Warner Brothers Exec. Explains The Half Blood Prince Movie Delay
The Los Angeles Times is reporting about the fan reaction to the news that the Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie will be delayed by eight months. They interviewed WB President and Chief Operating Officer, David Horn about the situation and he elaborated on the press release from yesterday. He quashed rumors that the delay is due to production difficulties:
“There is no production delay or production consideration. . . . It feels like we have an opportunity in the summer,” Horn said.
He added that he had seen the film, which is in the final production stages, and that it would “absolutely have been ready” by November. He characterized the shift as a proactive business move, not a retreat. “The question we asked is, what is best for this movie.”
He then continued to explain the following:
Warner currently is riding high with “The Dark Knight,” the Batman film that also stars Bale. The grim super-hero movie has taken in $452 million in the U.S. since its July 18 release, making it the second-highest grossing film ever.
To some degree, that success motivated Warner to shift “Half-Blood Prince,” Horn said. The film will now hit theaters the same midsummer weekend that “Dark Knight” was released this year. Horn said the young, core Potter audience would be out of school and give the film a longer theatrical life.
Horn finished the interview by letting everyone know that “We would never do anything to hurt one of the movies or the series. We love our fans.” And money.
Tags: Alan Horn, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Delay, HBP movie, Warner Brothers, WB
August 15th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
okay so i understand that they want to make the most money off of this film but whenever you release it it is going to make millions….the others have. November is a great month to go see a movie because its around the holidays and people have time off to go see the movie. I think it is stupid to delay it that long….i am so mad about the whole thing. This movie is going to make money no matter when you release it so delaying it was stupid!
August 15th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I think this is total bs! we should have like a real protest/ march kinda thing in addition to the boycott of ALL wb movies.
plus it would be a really cool event if we made sure that it was on the same day all around the word. its kinda ridiculous but it would get allot of attention.
August 15th, 2008 at 2:20 pm
on the same day that they were originally gonna have the movie in november!
August 15th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Yes, the Dark Knight is successful, and it really is a great movie. But is it really so successful that Harry Potter would lose enough sales to matter?
And does it have to be JULY!? I was really looking forward to this movie!
Plus, now the game is being pushed back, and that was on my Christmas list, too!
I hate Batman.
August 15th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
I do agree with you! This is bs.
They must get a lot of angry e-mails and such over at WB now. They really did it this time - just read what’s written in blogs and other sites all over the web!
Listen to the fans…not to your love for the money alone!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I agree with all of you! This is such a load of crap from Warner Bros. Hello, jerks from Warner Bros? Harry Potter is going to make money no matter when it comes out! So don’t worry you will still get your precious money, like you haven’t made enough with your second highest grossing film ever the Dark Knight. By pushing back the release eight months, we have waited for the movie for two years. So if you “love your fans” as much as you say, you would rethink the new release date.
August 15th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh.
that makes me so mad.
so stupid.
August 15th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Dude! So! Frikkin! Retarded!
HP movies always make about a gazzilion dollars anyway. Not to mention that there are two more after this (since they’re splitting DH). So, this is just being greedy. This makes me mad enough that I’m not sure I even want to see any more Potter movies. Jo, I love ya, but delaying the movie is g-r-e-e-d-y. You should be putting movies out as quickly as possible, so that you don’t become irrelevant. After all, the book series is wrapped up, everyone knows what gonna happen.
On the plus side, Twighlight will be out in December.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:58 am
Warner Bros putting profits above the needs of their fans.
I am seriously angry about this. I’m just your average person, paying my ticket price. But they wont get it from me this time.
And Alan Horn has seen the movie, has he? Well lucky him… rub it in, why don’t you?
August 16th, 2008 at 9:08 am
The Twilight movie has change its release date to Nov 21, 2008.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:26 am
It must be a Twilight/Harry/Money thing. I am so bitterly disappointed about the date move. My son and I had a date planned for the release with extended family. If I didn’t want to see HBP so bad I would just not spend my money. But we will now be in Florida on family vacation in July for the release and we will be able to see it on IMAX now. That is too cool to pass up.
Travis- if I hadn’t already planned a family vacation during July we would think about heading to Azkatraz. That release party will be awesome! I wonder if they knew somehow?
August 16th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
ugh
you have GOT to be kidding me…
as if we haven’t waited long enough for this movie :[
at this rate, by the time the 7th movie is finished releasing your “young core audience” will be out of college =/
August 16th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
I wonder if on the day of the Half Blood Prince movie release in July 2009 there will be protesters outside theatres protesting and convincing people that were about to buy tickets to turn around, go home, and support us. The purpose being to warn WB to never again delay a movie with a fan base as large as Harry Potter’s and causing their profits for HBP to plummet.
If that does happen, I will be there protesting. Hopefully our goal will be met and profit for the HBP film will plummet, hence causing those at WB to deeply regret there decision for the delay. Aw.. vengence is sweet.
August 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
If they had to postpone the movie because of production delays, it would be one thing. To deny thousands of die-hard fans the movie for 8 additional months in an attempt to boost 2009 profits is another. I am completely livid. I feel we should all boycott WB films (and the CW) from now until after opening weekend of Half Blood Prince. If they think this decision will boost their numbers, lets show them otherwise. Together, all the Harry Potter fans could make a pretty large statement.
Greg and Penny, we are counting on you here. Those two major Harry Potter podcasts and websites (blech!) aren’t going to call this for what it is because they want to maintain their relationship with WB. We need you guys to not sugar coat this, and report this for the total crap it is.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:16 am
I agree with Alli. Since WB is making this all about money, the fans should make this all about money. We should boycott all WB films, the CW, Entertainment Weekly magazine (I know you love it Greg and Penny), etc., until we get our film.
August 18th, 2008 at 7:24 am
i am not happy i understand if they needed more time to make the movie better or whatever, but WB have just proved that they are soo greedy. Lets grab our beaters and bludge them to (death???) nah i think just to their senses. Don’t they understand by doing this sooo many die-hard fans will probably just end up boycotting the movie anyway????? anyway, like umbridge taught me i must not tell lies. I am utterly pissed off.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:47 am
I love boycotts, but I can’t give up Entertainment Weekly. I think they are exempted from the boycott anyhow, as it’s obvious they didn’t know about the delay (hence, the cover of last week’s magazine).
August 18th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
Yeah, I am excluding EW from my boycott/hate list, because they were obviously just as blindsided as we all were. But I am not going to go see or buy any WB film until I can see Half Blood Prince, and for good measure, I won’t watch the CW (it doesn’t really have good shows anyway).
August 19th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
hahaha they want to drop it as a summer blockbuster instead of a holiday release what a bunch of assholes.
screw hollywood, seriously.
August 19th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Is the HBP delay possibly related to the copyright lawsuit by Fox against WB’s “Watchmen” movie? Are they worried that “Watchmen” will be delayed and they need the HBP money to boost their income for next year?
August 20th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I was so excited about this and I have to wait a whole year to see it!?!? Oh come on…. Now I see why the trailer took so long…
August 20th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
here is a plus about it coming out so late, we will have HBP and then DH 1 shortly there after and then DH 2 not too long after that. We are going to have a lot of Harry Potter movies in about a year and a half….which i guess is exciting!
August 20th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I am completely peeved about the delayed release. I find it much easier to go and watch a movie during the fall and winter as opposed to summer. In addition, the Dark Knightâs success was not related to the release date, but the unfortunate fact that Heath Ledger died. Their logic eludes me, as it appears it eluded many other people.
I suspect I will also be boycotting WB until the release of the Half Blood Prince.
August 25th, 2008 at 2:26 am
My only hope is that it ends up on the internet before the release date. In this case I would have no problem watching the movie online and screwing them out of my money. I’m not normally about downloading movies, but they’ve made it very clear that they have no respect for the people that they are “entertaining”. So why should I have any respect for them.
I was going to see Dark Knight because it got such good reviews. Now I’m thinking I’ll take a pass on any Warners Brothers movie and to be really mature about the whole thing, I’d just like to say, “bite me.”
September 6th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
i am so hurt. my grandson and i have read and reread all the books we have all the movies not last two. what a disappointment you have shown the fans.
November 7th, 2008 at 4:11 am
Stupid stupid stupid decision by warner brothers. PEOPLE WILL SEE IT NO MATTER WHAT! It’s the summer hols Down Under soon, and the Christmas Hols … it will sell. How bloody greedy and ill-thought out! Doing what’s best for the movie my arse! Read that as ‘doing what’s best for our own bottom line’! This is one time I’d gladly boycott WB!
November 15th, 2008 at 6:14 am
More extreme language (you have been warned)
Another thing he said was “it will be good for fans that way they don’t have to wait long between harry potter 6 , 7 and the new harry potter 8″
The bloody idiot i wanted to see it for my birthday now i have to wait fucking months a good thing is though that the film is crap otherwise i would be really disappointed. Beside by the time the film is out i will already have seen all the trailers and clips and be able to just figure out the whole plot of the movie from there!
The dark knight was not a great film and the only reason that people saw it was because they thought it to be heath ledgers last performance however his truly last film is the imaginarium of doctor Parnassus which is released in 2009. The dark knight sucked and the only thing that kept it good was the jokers performance!
Oh and for all other fans who want a reason to boycott warner bros films they released a statement in early 2008 saying that after 2008 there will be no films with female lead charecters which is not only stupid and silly but also completely sexist!
I am boycotting warner bros and i am also going to try and find websites to watch Harry potter 6 online!
November 15th, 2008 at 6:24 am
Replying to Geoff!
(May include rude language)
I disagree because harry potter will now have 8 films rather than seven also the new release dates are (Changed because of the delay of HP6):
HP6 - July 13 2009
HP7 (part 1) - november 19th 2010
HP8 (Or HP7 part 2) - Between May and august 2011
I would also like to point out theses films would not be released on DVD until!
HP6 - between late October and December 2009
HP7 - Between February and june 2011
HP8 - Between September 2011 and janary 2012
Also note the release date for Harry potter 7 NOVEMBER 19th 2010!
This means we could see a repeat of this delay of harry potter and have parts 7 and 8 moved another 11 months later meaning the films could not be released until late 2012 -2013
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Im not sure seeing the movie in the summer will have the same feel as it does in the winter. We love watching it in winter because the movie is focused around snowy holidays and thats what we’ve come to expect…… The new HP movie to ring in the holidays! hey here’s an idea lets release something like Home Alone in July!
December 31st, 2008 at 1:00 pm
i totally understand why they delayed it. not out of greed. dark knight is very successful. it good for both sides. Christmas holidays are the most expensive of the year and there could be icy road, blizzards ect…, people get lad off, lose hours, less money. harry potter/warner.bro. will make more money in the summer. if they wanted to be greedy they would put at November because they want the money early as possible. they did it for the best of fans. which is true. why are you people upset? so what they delayed harry potter. it not end of the world. harry potter is not important. your school, family, friends ect… are more important than a movie. if you call delaying harry potter for the best greedy. than look at what your doing? wanting harry potter to come out so you can see it and don’t care why they delayed because your thinking “warner bro. suck for delay the movie”" i hope the movie comes online so i can screw them out of money”.
either way they are going to get the money. if it was in november you wouldn’t care if they got money but you cared enough they would get money in july all because they delayed the movie for the best for harry potter and fans. in the summer people will have more time. you guys don’t understand that owning a company(rich or poor) is not easy.