New Image removed at request of studio; we've replaced it with another image from the film

Above is a new photo from this fall's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; there's another one after the jump. There's rarely anything substantive to say about photos from upcoming movies, but with Harry Potter, the look of each film has been pretty distinctive, and often instrumental to the series' success. No one's yet topped Alfonso Cuarón and Michael Seresin's work on Prisoner of Azkaban, but I have high hopes for Half-Blood Prince, which was one of my favorite Harry Potter novels. Part of the reason I like it so much is that J.K. Rowling had the guts to plunge its characters into absolute, nearly hopeless despair, particularly toward the end. The movie could be powerful if it finds the courage to embrace that darkness.

David Yates, who turned in an impressively serious, almost businesslike Potter installment with Order of the Phoenix, returns for Half-Blood Prince. The grainy gloom of the photo above suggests to me that he might have the right idea. Unless I miss my guess as to what part of the film it's taken from, it depicts one of the most pivotal moments in the entire series. The movie needs to get it right.

You can click through for the second photo, or click here for an image released back in March.

Between seeing We are Wizards at SXSW last month, Elisabeth's excellent Geek Beat column on cosplay and costuming (that's her at the right, dressed as Queen Gorgo), JK Rowling squaring off in court with Steven Vander Ark over this Harry Potter Lexicon, and following the wonderful Twilight fan sites more closely of late, I feel like I've been double-dipped in fandom recently. All this has got me thinking on the concept of fandom and fantasy and what drives people (like myself) to obsess about fictional worlds and characters, and where the line is between healthy love and admiration for books and films and unhealthy obsession.

Don't get me wrong here ... I totally love fansites.. Fans who maintain fansites give hours and hours of their personal time to keeping those sites going, and when sites get popular, they have to recruit other obsessed fans to help them out, all while maintaining the quality of the site and keeping away trolls (and, in the case of Twilight Moms, maybe a few irate spouses to boot!) But how much is too much?

These days, in some ways, it's much easier to be a fan -- and much cheaper! Instead of having to buy a bunch of teen and gossip mags to clip out pictures, make collages, show your adoration, you can make a website. But then, there are the studios that often shut them down. Unfortunately, it's been a constant struggle and no matter what well-meaning fans say, there's always someone out there to ruin it for the rest.

CNN reports that JK Rowling is suing RDR Books because they plan to publish the "Harry Potter Lexicon" -- basically, all the info that one fan collected about the series, from a site she had previously praised for its fan efforts. See our original report on this over here. The company says that her acceptance of fan-based websites "justified the efforts." Rowling states: "If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the Internet. Authors everywhere will be forced to protect their creations much more rigorously, which could mean denying well-meaning fans permission to pursue legitimate creative activities." On the flip side, they say that she's creating a monopoly over the work.

NOTE: This article contains speculation by an actor as to how the Harry Potter saga will end. It does not contain spoilers for the Harry Potter series, because the actor in question doesn't know how the Harry Potter series will end and neither do I. Kapeesh? Very well. Proceed. If you want to. The final Harry Potter book will be in stores in about three weeks, and even Harry himself -- Daniel Radcliffe -- doesn't know what the wildly anticipated novel holds. That's not stopping him from making predictions, however. Radcliffe tells the Herald Sun "I think Harry will die. It's the only appropriate way of ending it. How else will J.K. Rowling be able to resist the deafening calls for her to continue (with the books) if Harry is still alive? And, on a selfish level, every actor wants to do a death scene . . . I'm going to milk it."

Ah, but It should be noted that Mr. Radcliffe has not signed on for the seventh Potter movie yet. The boy wonder says, "It all depends on the script and who's going to direct it. It would be foolish to make it for the sake of it." Let me just say, for the record...give me a fuh-reaking break. Radcliffe gains access to a reported $40 million bucks when he turns eighteen later this month. $40 million bucks for waving a wand around, y'all! When I was eighteen, I drove a 1982 Chevy Celebrity and I had a fifty dollar savings bond from my grandmother to my name. It depends on the script, does it Radcliffe? Depends on the director? If it wasn't for the Harry Potter franchise, you'd be getting beat up in gym class right now! Girls wouldn't be screaming your name and fainting every time you make a public appearance, they'd be turning you down when you ask them to the Homecoming Dance. You think high school's fun, punk? Does anyone actually believe the kid would do six movies and then bail? You think Warner Brothers will be cool with that one? "We'll just slap some glasses on Freddie Prinze Jr., nobody will notice!" Come on, Radcliffe! Come the freak on!

There's a pretty interesting exclusive over at Newsweek: Emma Watson's not sure if she's on board for more Potter. While Potter five is finishing filming, Emma Watson -- best known as Hermione Granger -- has been publicly stating that she's ambivalent about signing on for the last two films. "I love to perform, but there are so many things I love doing ... Maybe that sounds ungrateful. I've been given such an amazing opportunity, but I'll just have to go with the flow." There's a question if this reflects legitimate burnout on Watson's part -- by the time the projected series is done, she'll be almost 20, and will have spent a significant percentage of her years on this planet playing Hermione -- or if it's just positioning and posturing for more cash for the next go-around. Plenty of franchises have re-cast mid-stream -- I'd love to hear a phone call between Watson and Crispin Glover, who notably got shoved out of the Back to the Future films -- but there's such an association between Potter's triumvirate and the films that it's almost insane to imagine the producers letting her go. Would you accept a different Hermione? Whom do you cast? Or should Warner Brothers skimp on catering and take the financial hit to get Watson back at any cost?