half-blood prince Tagged Articles at Cinematical

No doubt you recall the dark days last August when Warner Bros. announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was being pushed from its Nov. 21, 2008, release date all the way back to July 17, 2009. Surely you still bear the emotional scars of those troubled times, and I apologize if my mentioning it has reopened old wounds.

But you will pleased to know that Warner Bros. has heard your plaintive weeping and done the honorable thing. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is being moved up -- all the way from July 17 to July 15! That's two whole days sooner that we'll get to see Harry, Henrietta, Rob, Haggard, Prof. Mumblecore and all the gang do battle with Vadermort!

Astute readers might notice that July 17 is a Friday, making July 15 a Wednesday. Those readers might also recall that pretty much ALL of the biggest summer blockbusters have been coming out on Wednesdays lately. Cynical readers might wonder why HPATH-BP was ever scheduled for a Friday in the first place, and if indeed it was the plan all along to "change" it to Wednesday as a means of drumming up a little extra publicity now, in April, when most people wouldn't be thinking about the movie otherwise.

To those readers I say: You're probably right. Still, good news. A Wednesday release date means it's really coming out late Tuesday night, at midnight, maybe even 10 p.m. No word yet on when the pirated copy will be avilable on the Internet.

Now that I know how the Harry Potter franchise ends (I got the scoop off Wikipedia, not the new book), I don't seem to care about the movies. Does anyone else feel the same way? I didn't think so. Anyway, I figure my lack of interest in the next movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, also has something to do with the fact that I stopped reading the books after Order of the Phoenix. As for you guys, I'm sure you are still interested, or else you wouldn't be reading. So, yeah, sorry to disappoint you all, but Naomi Watts is apparently not actually signed on to play Narcissa Malfoy. And Joseph Fiennes will not be playing Tom Riddle, Sr., or anyone else, apparently. Also, Stuart Townsend won't be in the movie either, apparently. This is what reps for the actress and each of the actors, respectively, are saying. According to MTV Movies Blog, all three camps have given a simple statement of "not true."

I guess everyone can now stop debating whether or not Watts is technically British or Australian, as well as whether or not the Potter movies can allow for a non-English or non-British person to join the cast (obviously the commenters didn't read the source article, in which Watts defended her British roots -- in an old, non-Potter-related quote -- and even pointed out that she lived there her first 14 years). Even though I don't care anymore about Harry Potter, I have to admit that I'll always salute the movies' great casting choices. So, I must offer my sympathy for the fans (and MTV) who were excited about Watts playing Mrs. Malfoy. Even though I'm not familiar with the character (even if she was in Order of the Phoenix, which I did read), I see how she would fit in genetically with the other Malfoy Family actors (Jason Isaacs; Tom Felton). I also think the idea of casting Voldemort's brother as his father makes perfect sense. If I was Joseph Fiennes rep and I knew he wasn't cast, I'd at least look into getting him the part rather than quickly shooting the idea down completely. Of course, all the denials could be Warner Bros' doing -- maybe they don't want the info confirmed just yet.