No Harry Potter Movie for this year

In an unexpected announcement, Warner Bros. Pictures  have made the decision to move the release of the sixth Harry Potter film, “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”, from it’s original date of November 21, 2008 to the next year, specifically on July 17, 2009.

Warner’s president, Alan Horn, explained the two reasons for this delay: “Our reasons for shifting ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to summer are twofold: we know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers’ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films—changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of. We agreed the best strategy was to move ‘Half-Blood Prince’ to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer.”

The Teaser Trailer for the movie has been around for two weeks, building up the hype for the fall release.

I don’t like this decision at all. First, the reasons given for the delay does not have to do anything with the movie itself, the movie would be the same if releases on November. Second, the last Harry Potter movie was released over a year ago. And third, it delays the next movies for the last book, The Deathly Hallows Part I and II, originally intended for 2009 and 2010, to 2010 and 2011 respectively.

Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows... READ

Last night, after almost six months, I finally finished the last Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Yes I know I might seem to anyone like a s-l-o-w reader, but I read it slowly on purpose. I was slow because I like Harry Potter books a lot, and I enjoy reading them, so if I read it too quickly I would be left out with no more HP to read. So I decided to read two chapters of the book each week.

Just wanted to share a few opinions...

(Spoiler alert ON) Don't read on if you haven't read it!

It was a great book, worthy of the Harry Potter series. The last two chapters had me on the edge of the seat. I am glad that there were no main characters deaths (Hermione, Ron or Harry). The deaths of Lupin, Tonks, and Moody were sad, but Fred's death was the saddest. It did ended as I expected, with Voldermort dead and Harry Potter "The boy who lived" alive. It was a nice touch that Voldermort died by it's own curse backfiring.

(Spoiler alert OFF)

I am sad that there will be no more Harry Potter books, but at least we have the movies to look forward to.

It's been great knowing you Harry, good bye and farewell!

Less than two days for Harry Potter 7, no spoilers please!

Saturday July 21st is one of those days you want and do not want to arrive, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows book will be published. On one hand I've waited so long for it, but on the other it means the end of the Harry Potter books.

The potter craze is at an all time maximum with the Order of the Phoenix movie just released last week and the publication of the book around the corner. The rumors of what is going to happen are flying high on the net. Hence my request for all those who read this blog and/or know me, don't pass spoilers on me, please! Thanks.

Quote of the Day:
An argument is the longest distance between two points of view.
--Dan Bennett

You haven't seen Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix until you've seen it in IMAX

After a wait of a few months plus 2 days (because I wasn't able to get good tickets for the Thursday release) I finally got the chance to watch the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film on Saturday evening. The theatre was crowded, the functions for this past weekend were al sold out. It meant only one thing, the beginning of two weeks of Harry Potter hype! (next week, the publication of the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)

I liked the movie, I liked it a LOT! The movie lives up to my expectations. It is a very good adaptation (maybe a little too diluted) of the most complicated book in the series so far, this book defines a turning point in the series in which Hogwarts is no longer the focal point of the story. As always with the Harry Potter movies the cast selection is excellent. The visual effects are, as usual, brilliantly executed.

And the important thing in this post, IMAX. You just have to see it in IMAX to fully experience the movie potential. It is soooooooooooooo awesome! The crisp, clear projection, the exceptional sound, the enormous screen size... all makes good reason for the IMAX experience. But there is more, 20 minutes of the final of the movie are in 3D!, all of the visit of the Potter friends  to the Ministry of Magic. It really enhances the movie and when you leave the theatre you want more.

Harry Potter Theme Park

From BBC News: "The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter will open at the Universal Orlando Resort, in Florida, in 2009".

The new park will be located within Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. It will feature the Hogwarts Castle as well as the Hogwarts Express. The production designer Stuart Craig, who has worked on the Harry Potter films, is leading the design team to ensure it will remain faithful to JK Rowling's vision.

Construction in the park is expected to begin in the next few weeks and the opening is planned for 2009.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling said: "The plans I've seen look incredibly exciting, and I don't think fans of the books or films will be disappointed."

I hope that they pull out this one fine, otherwise it can seem as a desperate measure to increase the revenue of the Harry Potter Franchise.

You can check the complete article at the following link:

BBC News: Harry Potter theme park planned

UPDATE: Harry Potter site MuggleNet has some updated info. The parks is currently scheduled to open on early 2010, it will be built on "Islands of Adventure", "Important that the theme park represents the entire saga from Book 1 to Book 7". There is also an official website up www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter where you can sign up for e-mail updates.

Quote of the Day:
If your number one goal is to make sure that everyone likes and approves of you, then you risk sacrificing your uniqueness and, therefore, your excellence.
--Anonymous