It is official, the LA Times has reported that WB will be making the announcement tomorrow that Deathly Hallows will be split into two movies with David Yates directing them.  Here is what the article says:

WATFORD, England — It’s official: Eight will be the magic number for the “Harry Potter” film franchise.

After months of rumors, Warner Bros. and the producers of the massively successful movies will announce Thursday that they plan to split “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” J.K. Rowling’s seventh and final “Potter” novel, into two blockbuster films — one to be released in November 2010 and the second in May 2011.

The films will be titled, simply, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II,” according to producer David Heyman. Director David Yates, who returned for his second tour of Potter duty with “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and is quite popular with the cast, will direct both “Deathly Hallows” films, which will be filmed concurrently. Screenwriter Steve Kloves also returns and, by completion of the franchise, will have written seven of the eight films. 

This announcement will bring a flurry of opinions and emotions from hard core Harry Potter fans. I personally think it is a great idea and am hopeful that this means that they will stay as close to the original story line as possible. Plus, this means that there will be continued excitement until at least May 2011 for all of us Potter fans!  (hat tip to Nathalie for pointing us to this!)