Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

[OscarGuy]

Any book that really needed it was Goblet of Fire. The last book didn't need that.

Of course they're greedy bastards, that's the only explanation for this and the Hobbit split. Notice how both films are Warner/New Line franchises? That should tell you how greedy that co. is.

BTW: Yates is also directing Deathly Hallows, so he'll have directed more of the series than Chris Columbus by the time all is said and done.

[rolotomasi99]

like KILL BILL and THE MATRIX sequels, we have one movie's worth of a story stretched out into two films. greedy motherfuckers!

[Zahveed]

Well, now we can anticipate a 90 minute last battle.

[anonymous1980]

I was gonna post this.

Personally, I don't mind the splitting in two: The book is so loaded with stuff, it can't possibly be crammed into a 3-hour movie without looking too rushed.

The problem I have is the director. David Yates is a fine director but I was hoping and praying for Alfonso Cuaron.

Think about it: In the "A Place to Hide" chapter where Harry, Ron and Hermione escape the attack at the wedding and they're being hunted by Death Eaters in Muggle London, I was imagining these scenes being shot in a Children of Men style long tracking shot. I'm not going to see that with Yates.

[OscarGuy]

Last 'Potter' to be split in half
Warner to make two films from final 'Harry'
By DIANE GARRETT
'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'

Warner Bros. will split the last "Harry Potter" tome into a two-part film, with the installments unspooling six months apart.
David Yates will direct and Steve Kloves will write both parts, which will be filmed concurrently.

Part one of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" will bow in November 2010, with the second to debut the following May.

The unusual "Kill Bill" strategy solves a thorny problem for the studio, which had been wrestling with a way to adapt J.K. Rowling's hefty tome and successfully conclude its lucrative franchise, which has generated $4.5 billion at the worldwide B.O. It's not yet clear exactly how studio will split the 784-page book, however.

Warner Bros. prexy Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov, prexy of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, are expected to discuss their plans for "Deathly Hallows" during the studio's ShoWest presentation at 2:45 p.m. today.

"Deathly Hallows," the seventh in the series, is weighty in more ways than one: The boy wizard and his pals battle archnemesis Voldemort to the death. Tome sold a record 11 million copies during the first 24 hours after it hit bookshelves last July.

The sixth movie in the franchise, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," debuts on the bigscreen in November. It is also being directed by Yates, who helmed the fifth installment, "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." Kloves has also been a steady presence for the franchise; he will have written seven of the eight adaptations, having missed only "Order of the Phoenix."

David Heyman has served as producer on the entire series, which last year surpassed James Bond as the top-grossing film franchise (Daily Variety, Sept. 11). Franchise has also proved lucrative on DVD and in other ancillary markets; among other ventures, Warner and Universal have partnered on a theme park attraction devoted to "Potter."