After months of speculation, Warner Bros has revealed to the L.A. Times that they plan to split the final Harry Potter book into two films. One will be released in November 2010, the second in May 2011, and will simply be titled Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I / Part II. Aware that this looks like a grubby money-maker by cynics (myself included), Daniel Radcliffe insists that's not so. "I think it's the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book. There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut -- although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans -- but the seventh book doesn't really have any subplots. It's one driving, pounding story from the word go."
Producer David Heyman says it was a difficult decision to make for the studio. "I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons. Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book. You can remove scenes of Ron playing quidditch from the fifth book, and you can remove Hermione and S.P.E.W. [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare] and those subplots . . . but with the seventh, that can't be done." Author J.K. Rowling has given her approval, much to everyone's relief.
I do admire that they are so dedicated to giving us the complete Deathly Hallows story that it wears down my cynicism. I disagree that there aren't things that couldn't be trimmed down -- Harry, Hermione and Ron's months upon months of hiding out in a tent, for one. But the fact that it was such an edge-of-the-seat read makes me worry they'll lose that momentum by splitting it in half. And what of the age factor? Will Radcliffe look 35 by the time this is finished?
In the end, I don't care how they release it. I just want it to be the best film of the entire series.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
3-12-2008 @ 8:22PM
Jennifer said...
This is AWESOME NEWS!!!!! Unfortunately, it's too late for nearly all of the other movies. If only someone would make a series, tv or otherwise that would include all if not most of the plot points, minor or otherwise. Personally I wanted to see the students sing "Weasley is our king" and Luna's roaring lion hat. I also wanted to see Neville more than he has been shown. He and Luna are two of my favorite characters and they should be shown for the awesome characters that they are. Afterall, they did go into the Ministry with the trio. And Neville did stab McNair in the eye with Hermione's wand. Now THAT would have been an awesome scene.
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3-12-2008 @ 8:25PM
Elisabeth said...
I have to agree with that -- I wish they had done longer films, or even split something like Half-Blood Prince in half. I'm glad they feel 7 is worthy of Megastar Treatment, but I wish they had shown as much care earlier on.
2 films better mean I get *every* scene in the Malfoy's manor. I need my Jason Isaacs fix. :D
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3-12-2008 @ 9:25PM
Saavik said...
I didn't love the seventh book, so I too wish that they had cared this much about not leaving important things out of the earlier movies (Prisoner of Azkaban in particular, but also OotP, which included "Snape's worst memory", but didn't show the most imoprtant part of it). I'm not so worried about a loss of momentum as I am about whether the movies (or at least one of them) will drag as they try to convey all that (rather boring) time they spend moving around with the tent. But the one thing I don't think we really have worry about is the age factor. From everything I've read, it sounds like they're filming these together basically as if they were one movie. So the shoot might take a bit longer, but the age thing shouldn't be much more of a concern than it would have been if there was only one movie.
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3-12-2008 @ 9:42PM
Tigerlily said...
I don't want to a party pooper here, but as much as I love Harry Potter, even book seven could do with a bit of editing. I for one thought the whole camping sequence went on waaaay too long.
Still, they probably will need 2 parts just to put back in some of the crucial details they cut from previous films!
Have to agree though, if they were going to take such care with the last one, I wish they had done it earlier on.
How I wish we could have had Richard Harris as Dumbledore for the entire series...but that's a whole other discussion.
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3-12-2008 @ 11:42PM
Chris said...
Hey. Everybody wins here. The studio makes money, and we get a whole lot more movie.
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3-13-2008 @ 1:53AM
Ryan said...
I'd like to see the BBC take on the series with nothing cut out.
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3-13-2008 @ 5:30AM
Marty J said...
The Cash Cow's udders are sore from being over-milked!
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3-13-2008 @ 10:04AM
Quito said...
I'm excited! I think this a good move because I agree that there isn't much to be cut. I think things can be condensed, but for there is a lot of story and a lot of action. I feel its going to be like Return of the King but with more story, so I can see why it would be too long for a single movie - not that it ever stopped Kevin Costner.
I'm assuming they'll be filming them continuously back to back so as not to create a significant age gap. As long as the DVD is released as a single film I'll be happy. I can't tell you how much I have come to hate switching discs in the middle of a Lord of the Rings movie. Even the re-released limited editions which were double sided discs split the movies instead of having theatrical on one side and extended on the other.
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3-13-2008 @ 11:18AM
dan said...
I agree with making it two films. I said after I read it that it would be the only way to get the complexity of this book on the big screen.
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3-13-2008 @ 11:34AM
Joshua said...
If it’s not about the money they should make the tickets half priced or at least discounted, shoot make them half priced and release them at the same time. I hate when they do this, unless its two specifically different films (i.e. Kill Bill) heck even kill bill could have been one movie. I just don’t like the way things are headed, first the news that movies with higher production values are going to be more expensive (monsters vs. Aliens) now movies are going to be splitting themselves in half to get the "whole Story".
This also brings up other questions how do you judge a film that’s in two pieces? Does the gross income include both films and just the first? I think that if you bring your movie stub back to the theatre from the first part you should be allowed into the second part free.
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3-13-2008 @ 2:43PM
Lindsey said...
If splitting it into two movies, gives me a little more Neville, then all is good!
As long as they keep in the *spoiler* part where Harry is digging Dobby's grave (one of the most affecting parts in the book) then I'm happy.
I hear ya about the camping though, that went on forever and ever!
Let's hope they don't film the epilogue either. I imagine bad makeup and hair!
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3-13-2008 @ 3:11PM
ML said...
I don't mind the last installment being two films, but I can't help feeling that, in comparison, Order of the Phoenix was treated even more badly that it was initially. It was a huge book, and yet they felt somehow compelled to squeeze it all in under two hours? I felt like I was watching the story told in shorthand.
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