Harry Potter's sixth of seven books will release to theaters this November 21st — but it will not be his penultimate movie.
CNN reports that the series' conclusion, The Deathly Hallows, will be divided across two films. "Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book," said producer David Heyman. The article also states that "the two final Potter films will be shot concurrently… The first film is slated for release in November 2010, with part two following in May 2011."
Right — because such a release schedule worked so well for The Matrix sequels. Here's an idea: how about the director cut from the middle of the book the hundreds of pages of pointless, inert camping? It didn't make for riveting storytelling in print; now imagine as their tenting explodes across the screen! Sheesh.
I don't approve of how The Golden Compass ended prematurely compared to the book. I hope Rowling's work doesn't suffer a similar ignominy.
…Seriously?
*thumps head on wall*
Frickin' LOTR made it, concisely but relatively smoothly, in 3 hours. Why don't they just admit that they want to exploit the series as much as they can now that it's ended!
And like they're going to put that dead Dumbledore booby trap in the film version. That'll make it a rated R movie! Let's face it, there's tons of stuff that will be cut.
Though there are usually only eighteen months between Harry Potter film releases, the period between the sixth (Nov 21, 2008) and the first half of the seventh will be two years, as the release date for the second-to-last film is now confirmed as November 19, 2010.
In the meantime, why not take in Harry Potter: The Exhibition?