Hey Everyone! Welcome to another edition of HPProgs.

In this week’s episode we reviewed Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince….sure took long enough for this movie to come out! We were joined by our friend and special guest Greg in Toronto who had some great insights into the movie. We talked about our overall impressions, the acting, the theme of the movie, the rating and many other very interesting subjects!

We also gushed about Azkatraz 2009, the Harry Potter conference we attended last week in San Francisco, CA. If you like what you heard and are interested in Infinitus 2010, check out the Infinitus website and get on their mailing list ASAP!

We also briefly discussed the move of the Harry Potter Exhibition to Boston, come October 25, 2009. The exhibition will be held at the Museum of Science in Boston.

Listen to Greg’s guest spot on the live Hogs Head PubCast from Azkatraz. They talked about Harry Potter as Legitimate Lit.

Also, check out the newest article about our Hitler Video that Greg was quoted in.

Make sure to let us know what you thought of the Half Blood Prince!

You can listen to the podcast using the player below, or download it directly as an mp3.

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Warner Brothers has released the NEWEST Half Blood Prince trailer and it looks fantastic! It has some scenes we’ve seen before, as well as some new footage that is sure to leave you wanting more! We will get an imbedded youtube video in to show you the trailer asap, but in the mean time, go over to Mugglenet where they have the trailer in downloadable formats of all sizes.

Enjoy and make sure to let us know what you think of it!

Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer of Warner Brothers has issued a statement as a response to fans who expressed dismay about the postponement of the Half Blood Prince movie to July 2009. The press release reads as follows:

Many of you have written to me to express your disappointment in our moving Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to Summer 2009.

Please be assured that we share your love for Harry Potter and would certainly never do anything to hurt any of the films. Over the past 10 years, we have nurtured and protected each film, and the integrity of the books upon which they are based, to the best of our ability.

The decision to move Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was not taken lightly, and was never intended to upset our Harry Potter fans. We know you have built this series into what it is, and we thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm and support.

If I may offer a silver lining: there would have been a two-year gap between Half-Blood Prince and the much-anticipated first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which opens in November 2010.

So although we have to wait a little longer for Half-Blood Prince, the wait from that film until Deathly Hallows will be less than 18 months. I am sorry to have disappointed you now, but if you hold on a little longer, I believe it will be worth the wait.
Alan Horn
President, Chief Operating Officer
Warner Bros.

Fans continue to be dismayed by the actions of WB as well as the excuses given for the delay of the much anticipated movie. What are your thoughts?

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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.