Half-Blood Prince release date pushed back to summer 2009 (UPDATE #2)
 

Warner Brothers have today announced that the Half-Blood Prince release date is to be pushed back to summer 2009. The release date will now be July 17th 2009.

The official website for the film has been altered to reflect the change in release date.

UPDATE: A new statement from Alan Horn, Warner Bros. president and chief operating officer has emerged;

UPDATE #2: Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. head of distribution, spoke early Sunday about the decision to change the release date for the sixth film.

But ... Didn't the trailer say Nov 08? Or did I imagine it? xD

SERIOUSLY!?
I just saw this on ONTD and thought "is it gonna go on SS?" and now here it is.
But I wanna know why they'd put the date of the release on the teaser trailer and then change it :/

WHAT!?!

(ok, that wasn't my initial reaction, but I can't my initial reaction down, for that would be swearing.)

It did. But this is an official press release. The repercussions of which are huge, but that's for the studio to deal with.
:lol: My reaction was basically: WTF WTF WTF!!!

WHAT????????? DID I READ THAT RIGHT????????? Why???????

That's brilliant! No... wait a second...

:lol: That's what I'm feeling right now.
But yeah I agree the studio is going to pay HUGE for this. I mean seriously you give us a teaser trailer and then go LULZ KIDDING YOU WON'T SEE THIS FOR NEARLY A YEAR. FAIL WB. Imma show them a magic trick.

Yes, that was my exact reaction.

I think we should do some sort of petition, I'M seeeeeething.
Boycott WB or something. Send them angry fan mail.

GAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

OMG!!!
Noooooo!!!
Do you actually know how much I have been waiting for that amazing day...even planning every single second....:cry:

Gah. Seriously.

This makes me want to see the movie less, to be honest. Honestly, this is ridiculous.

First we get a trailer that takes for-fricking-ever to make its appearance, and now we don't even get the fricking movie until next friggin summer.

Do you think this will affect the DH production? Would they put off shooting until after HBP is released, or keep filming on schedual for that?

This is not possible. No.
It's always about money isn't it.
I am so mad right now.
I had big plans for Thanksgiving, which included this film.

According to what I saw, it's supposedly not going to affect DH production but I dunno. This gives the editors like what ELEVEN MONTHS to fiddle around with it!? HBP better be so epic I wanna see it more than once like TDK was.

Oh yeah, Smooth move.

You get us all hyped up for November and just shoot us back down? *Grumbles to self* <.<

Try reading the quotes. They do give their reasons.
No. Yates said in the press release *points to link* that DH will start in February, as planned.

I can't believe this. They've GOT to be kidding. They can't just do this to us! Well, I mean, clearly they can but it's hardly fair! There are thousands of people out there waiting to see this film and they do this? GAAAH >.<

Next thing they're going to say DH'll come out an year later too <_<

NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! :cry: I was gonna watch that on Thanksgiving, now I gotta wait LONGER?! That's really unfortunate

I've received one of the hardest blows in my cereer as a Potter fan!

Nearly a year instead of three months! Thats cruel and unusual punishmente!

Oh, great. :/
-Grumbles-

My first reaction:
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My second reaction: WTFHOMFGBBQ?!?!?!?!?!??!??!?!?!?!!?

My current reaction: SOMEONE SUE THE STUDIO FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ARGH. *fumes coming out from ears*

I think we're going to be seeing the film in clips like we did for GoF. I hope we don't, but unless they release a bunch of promo stuff and trailers, things aren't gonna be good.

Oh well. Their film. Their choices. <_<

It's all quite silly. I mean HBP will make millions no matter when they release it, and GOF was released in November as well! Plus, they have to edit everything! The trailer, the list of dates on harrypotter.com ... it doesn't make sense to me >_<

Oh, that is below the belt, WB. My initial reaction was 'WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS FLUFFY?!'

I have always said that Warner Bros getting their hands on Potter was going to be the worst thing that ever happened to us fans.

GAH!

Now, I wonder how this will effect the Royal Premiere in November, what with them putting the date back, that surely can't still be going on?!

*mutters stream of profanities under breath*

^ We're working to find that out as we speak.

Note that this move is less about HBP and more about WB's lack of releases for next year. It's not that HBP won't be ready, far from it. It's that there's a gap next summer that needs filling and this is the best film to do that.

oh no realllyyy noooooooooooooooooo i cried when i read this
noo no way noooooooo nooooooooo noooooooo

Next thing you know there will be a fire and all copies of the film will be destroyed...

Hope I didnt jinx it there, but come on.... nearly a whole year of waiting again, how will we cope

really i am still crying

from just an 24 hours the film was to be after 3 months now
after year and month i cant hold my self really

What?!?! Is that TRUE?!?!
Please, don't to that to me!!!!
I wanted to go to the cinema, on Friday, after my choir exercises...I wanted to see it in good mood...
But...
Nooooo!!!!

This Better Be a Big Joke Warner is Playing on us it better be.

ok there will be gap next summer and by that they fell the gap now there is gap this summer 2 years without harry potter shall we wait 2 years this is completly unfair

Oh my gosh! I can't believe that. :(

The more I think about it, the more it makes sense. I mean WB didn't have a big movie for next summer so I guess moving HP was a logical move since they KNOW HP brings in a lot of money. I'm upset about it yes but I GET why they're doing it. Like I dunno we better get a good full trailer sometime in 09 then.

NO! They cant do this!! Its not fair!!!!!!!!

logic!!!!!!!!!!! you say logic
and is it logic that we who were soo happy that the movie will be after 3 months and now its going to be a year non of this is logic

Who the heck decides these things? Who ever made that decision should SERIOUSLY RECONSIDER.

We don't care if theres a big gap, SO WHAT if they aren't making a gahzillion dollars for a few months, They'll live! Have the DVD release be in the summer, that way they'll sell DVD's!

Seriously, this is...
I can't even think up a word to describe how mad I am.

WHAT?!?! That's totally messed up. They just want more money! "Forget the fans, let's just fill up our pocket books!"

Well that's how the studio is seeing things. I mean a lot of studios are still feeling the aftershock of the Writers Strike so WB's doing the best thing they can to make some money back that they lost because of it. 2009 is gonna be a GOOD year for movies anyway since there's stuff like Transformers 2 coming out. HBP gives the WB a strong box office release for mid-summer which is known to be the time when the best movies come out anyway. I mean OOTP came out last summer and it's the second highest grossing film of the HP series. Just chill out mkay? :]

i just wish that they just jokes us bec i am reaally mad,sad,dissapointed,misreable and crying

Okay, first thing that came into my head "W.t.f?!"
Wait until summer...I just.. I don't even know what to say :blink:

That really SUCKS!! I can't believe WB is doing this! Don't they realize where there money comes from-US- the fans who shell out our money to see HP films and now they screw us over, so they can make supposedly more money. If they kept the November date they will make a lot of money because in the United States it is around Thanksgiving time a big holiday here and right after that is Christmas which means people are going to be on vacation during both holidays and will go out and see this movie.
Now they have to spend more money to change dates on promotional items and trailer realeases.
Just very mad right now! There goes my November!

:faint: :faint: :faint:

Somebody hates us :cry:

No what they are doing is making millions of people pull their hair out and think about boycotting the flim all together :hairpull: :hairpull: :hairpull:

This better be a good one or I will sue! *Insert Stern Smilie*

Wait what???:faint: I can't believe this!!! I mean i understand why they did it but how could they do this to the fans???...My friends and I were so ready to go to the midnight realease. I am like this close to crying:cry: How COULD they???? This is horrible...now what am i supposed to do on November 21??? I am totally speechless...and sad:(...and i STILL dont understand how it will make them money...i mean true HP fans will see the movie anytime it comes out so why change the date???:no:

your kidding right?

They know april fool's day was 4 months ago don't they.

WTFFF?

THAT"S CRAZY!!!!

I HATE IT! I HATE IT! I HATE IT!

AARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH!

:cry:

yeah and what about trailers the rubbish they said 21 NOV 2008
"oh lets give them 15 sec trailer then another more exciting one for them
and the game give them trailers of the game so they get sooo excited to november no sorry its not november its july 2009 "
this is just rubbish and scum

OMFGWFTBBQ!! :gasp:

*is going to try to this this very calmly*

Okay. I am not happy with what they have decided to do. They tell us in the trailers, news articles, and through everything else that it'll be coming this November of 2008. I understand why they are making the release date being pushed back, but they honestly should have a much better excuse than because there will be more profit in the summer because more families will be avoilable to go and see it. Money isn't everything!

And I just feel really sorry for everyone had made plans prior to this film. We got so hyped up with all the trailers, promos, little snippets of what's going to happen, make plans to see the film on a certain night, ect., and then it gets taken away like that from under our feet. But just think of all the plans for the premieres and such that have been planned for months. Now they have to take a whole chunk out of their time to reset dates left and right and everything. Then you have Warner Brothers which has to do its own fair share of making changes too. They have trailers and sites to edit and everything.

Ugh. If they really wanted to release the sixth Potter film in the summer, they would've done that in the first place!

I hate that they are doing it, I get why, but I don't like it.

They had better have a plan in place to compensate us big time.

they have already changed the sites
i bit the royal family in UK well be really mad

this made me cry
warner brothers is being stupid:arg:

wait!- is this gunna reflect upon the DH release date in someway?

Pushing it bac some how?

What is going to happen with the video game, then? Will they move the release date of that as well? I imagine that it will contain sets/scenes/spoilers/dialogue from the film, so having it hit stores months before the film might be, what's the word... stupid. It would be stupid.

Go ahead. Someone just shoot me because my life is over! I am furious... fuming. Steam should be coming out of my head, I'm surprised it's not! I feel like kicking anyone who bothers to bring up "July 2009". I have been waiting so long for this. JUST when we were UNDER the 100 mark...

How am I supposed to live through school without seeing a Potter movie? That was my only motivation! "Get through September & October ...." And now THIS!

I remember joking about this a few weeks ago before the release of the teaser trailer. I remember thinking if we started a rumor that the movie had been pushed back, we could get WB to confirm when the trailer would be released. Wow. This stinks. I wonder how long the cast and crew has known about this?

No it's not gonna affect DH in any way from the looks of it. HBP is pretty much done when it comes to shooting. :]

Warner Bros. Sucks!:rip: :arg: :topic:

i.... dont know what to say...

thats it! thank you for saying it so eloquently.

i know the reasons posted. but i aint buyin' it. something's up.

Why You Blankety Blank Blank Stupid Studio Executives! I Fart In Your General Direction! Your Mother Was A Hamster, And Your Father Smelled Of Elderberries! I Blow My Nose At You!

they said it wont effect the DH release date

I was actually wondering the exact smae thing a few minutes after I posted. I'm sure that they'll find some excuse to push that date back as well, seeming most video games that are based on a film are usually released in stores a week or so before the actual film is in threatres.

I'm sure we'll be hearing some word about the game soon. ;)

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I have been buggin my friends about goin to see it and now I CANT!!!!!

and of cousre this means that the potter cast will see the movie before us with 8 months and the movie will be hidden for 8 months its not going to be fresh as if it produceed in its normally times
imagining the idea that the movie is readyy to be watched but you cant watch it

Oh and i just remembered were'nt they going to have that huge premeire in London with the whole royal family and everything??? wow they are going to me MAD! Warner Bros is just setting them selves up, i mean do they know how many people will be annoyed/mad at them? not to mention if they are keeping everything on schedule then theyll have such short time to make DH1 and they might not do they best they could with the movie with such little time!:hairpull:

That is something that I CANNOT live with!!~ But I have to!!!~

that 8 months the shpe of actors will change alot of things is changed
it will be like watching a repeated soccer match

Okay HBP is pretty much DONE as a movie so this will not affect the production and release of Deathly Hallows 1.

Yeah, but eight months is a looong time for a video game to just be stored somewhere. It's all right for a film, but video game graphics are changing so incredibly fast, in eight months it probably will be hopelessly outdated. Gives them a great opportunity to improve the game, though.

no i think they will begin making DH at the begaining of 2009
yeah on july 2009 we will be watching the movie when the DH is about to be finished

I Found a Petition to Get It Back to November Go here to Sign

Harry Potter 6 release date

Well well well, firstly I agree with you totally. It is a guaranteed money maker. Secondly, just when the movie countdown got into double digits, this has to happen? It annoys the bloody hell out of me....I would really appreciate the truth as to why this is happening...

Their reason is money. It's their reason for everything. The DH in two movies. Now this.

Not a good reason for the fans.
They're milking it & they're milking us.


It's cruel.
I hate them.

yeah who knows maybe after 8 months there will be new console or new
technolgy in the world of gaming

Oh well at least they wont change that then. That's like the only good news coming out of this:P

i entered the game site Harry Potter MicroSite and the date still 14 NOV

this is just a bad joke!! it can not be true *tear* It is outraguous they should have decided this before the first release not after when all the fans where already marking there calenders

my first reaction was what??? and i couldn't breath when i called my friend to tell her the news =[

I can see that it is clearly a money thing and a "we dont have enough blockbusters for next year, so let's just shift our potential biggest moneymaker to a new calendar year" mentality - I UNDERSTAND THAT BIT!!! It is still a bitter pill to swallow when I was so looking forward to, not just to the film, but all the frenzy and merchandise that comes with it....

WTF??? This is not fair! I was going to watch this on my birthday!!! What's this dude's E- Mail? He's gonna get ABUSE!!

Hell Have No Fury Like POTTER FANS Scorned!!!

Of course, that's why this summer had some of the best releases as yet. Like Dark Knight, Indiana Jones: Kingdom of Skulls, Hancock, Made of Honor, and many others (I am NOT going to list them all). Old excuse, if you ask me.

Translation: We can have the DVD out in time for Christmas and make even MORE money

Because they wouldn't be rushing to see "Twilight" less than a month later.

I'm a cynic. They had us all ready and waiting, and then people start speculating that another movie of a similar format (minus magic, wizards, Voldemort, DD's death.....okay, another movie based off a successful book series) might give it a run, and they have to change to summer.

Not cool, WB. NOT COOL.

Shannon :(

ok peeps relax. i know everyone is upset by this (Merlin knows i still am), but they did say why they're delaying it-- albeit they sugar coated it to the point that it sounds like BS

in other words: WB is in danger of great financial loss in 2009, so we need Harry Potter to bail us out.

thats it plain and simple.

looking at the lineup WB has for 2009, the only movies that optimistically looks to make money would be Watchmen (March 2009) and Terminator Salvation (May 2009), other than those two, no other WB movie completed are sure to make money and most projects are are stuck in development hell (thanks to the strike). even if Watchmen and Terminator turns out to be monster hits the size of The Dark Knight or Spiderman, WB's overhead is so huge they'd wind up with a loss anyway. so they need another sure fire hit at the most lucrative movie season to make them end the year in the black: Harry Potter.

yes it sucks. yes it makes you wanna go AK on the WB head honchos. but Harry Potter, just like everything else WB owns, is an investment, and they will place it anywhere they see fit that will make the most money.

there is a petition online now:

Change the Half-Blood Prince release date back to November 21, 2008 Petition

Whatever the motives behind this are (probably money), I'm kind of glad. I know this isn't the case where the extra time will make the movie more polished, because pretty much everything is wrapped, but the timing works out so much better for me. Instead of having to deal with organizing a midnight outing at college, I can now set something up with my friends back home and not worry about exams and timing and people.

But that July release date is so far from now, but to WB's credit, when it does get released, there will be all those months of anticipation building up, and the result (Box Office Totals) could be huge. Not Dark Knight huge (which I believe is WB's inspiration for the summer shift), but impressive nonetheless.

[checks calendar]
Nope... isn't April Fools... grrrr
OMG. This. Makes. Me. SO. MAD.
I can't believe they would do such a horrible thing! RAWR. [fumes]
[tries to be optimistic] well at least there's still something to look forward to around that same date.... Twilight! Ah I feel a little better now.

Okay guys, let's all please calm down.

Sure, we're all shocked by this decision but in the end, it's going to happen. Let's just calm down, and most importantly, stick to the SS rules.

That means no spamming, double posting, or telling various members several times to do something.

TDK, Indy4, Hancock and many others were finished before the strike took place, if some overlapped they managed to work around it, but any other additional work done wasnt huge enough that it would cripple the prodcution completely. in other words: these films squeeked by just in time before the guillotine fell.


Twilight is not a WB movie. the Harry Potter delay was clearly a financial decision.

you know there was a rumor way back that WB thought of having DH1 come out in 2009 just to offset the loss, but that never happened because it was too much to try to accomplish in so short a period of time. so looks like they chose the next best thing by delaying HBP instead.

Good post. As much as this stings, it makes sense financially for WB. There have already been a few reports that Terminator: Salvation may bomb. Watchmen looks good, but knowing the ending, it may not do well with critics and general movie fans.

Warner doesn't need HP money this year, they need it next year. Capitalism: I hate it, but I love it.

I heard this on the news this morning, im really upset. No matter what date Harry Potter comes out, it will be a huge. Does this mean the video game has changed date to? At least let the video game come out in November.

I wonder if the Twilight release plays any part... granted Twilight is being released by a fairly small studio, but they're still going to have an amazing showing... maybe they're afraid that after HP6 would have been out a month, people might opt for Twilight b/c the hype from the books is more current... maybe not, but it's worth speculating.

When it comes down to it, the summer is obviously a more profitable release time no matter what movie its going up against, so as disappointed as I am, I'm not entirely surprised by the decision now that I think about it.

Sounds like WB didn't want to have to compete with Twilight when it comes out this year...

Yall I highly doubt this had anything to do with Twilight. Twilight is being released by a different company first off and secondly HBP would have made it's primary gross before Twilight would have even came OUT. This is just WB trying to make more money like Steel said. They didn't have anything huge for next year with the exception of Watchmen & the Terminator movie.

I don't get why some of you guys are posting in links to petitions to stop them from doing this release date pushing. They have already made up their mind, and I'm sure they aren't going to do change what they have planned for the release again. Yes, we are all upset about this change, but it isn't going to kill anyone to wait another half a year. Patience is a vertue. ;)

They have to think of their shareholders and what it means for them if their profits take a nosedive because they have no major release for summer '09. It's not about making more money, it's about making the most of a bad situation.

That is exactly why it isn't about making more money. It's about moving a major blockbuster to a time when they have nothing scheduled to try and limit their losses. It's a knock-on effect of the Writer's Strike that there's less products to market next year.

We don't think so.

We have no idea. Presumably EA will announce something soon.

I'm wondering if this was the reason for the distinct lack of publicity the film received up until recently. They must have had this in the works for a while.

Filming finished in May. The movie was supposed to go to test audiences soon, which indicates they are nearing the final edit.

The cast always see films before an audience. There's nothing new in that.

We're assuming that's been cancelled. No official word yet though.

They will already be at work on the Deathly Hallows game so I doubt they will go back to that. I think they should release the game anyway to tide fans over.

The shooting schedule for DH is Feb. '09 - December '09. That was announced a while ago now.

Unless they can magic another film for summer 2009, that isn't going to work.

They said, it's because of the Writer's Strike.
Those scripts would have been finished long before the strike. Scripts are done months in advance of shooting schedules. The process of film-making, especially blockbusters, takes roughly 18 months from start to finish.

Proof of how long it takes can be seen in the fact that the Writer's Strike delayed Deathly Hallows in the scripting process and also meant that Kloves could not provide daily re-writes for Half-Blood Prince.

:lol: Twilight is popular undoubtedly but I really don't see it scaring Warner Brothers.

nah. more likely WB is wishing they optioned Twilight to make up for their projects that never bore fruit.

I can't even find words right now.

I totally agree with you! LoL! I was more playing devil's advocate than really thinking Twilight would scare the bigwigs at WB, but it surely DOESN'T hurt to no longer be going up against a movie of a similar format.

No matter what the reason, we all just have to make peace with this matter :) *sends soothing spells amongst the crowds* ;)

My friend IMed me about this right when I got online and had to see it for myself. I feel like I could cry... or scream... or both. I'm so angry. I've been waiting so long (so has everyone else here). I can't wait almost a year :( :( :( I can't believe this. It sucks.

I know it's not a WB movie, thus giving it's threat more pause.


*points to several other posts* I'm not so sure. It may pay out, or it may not. HP fans world-wide are ticked off, and there's enough of us now with our own money. I know I already had my plans in place, and now I have to re-do it all, so they can have more money. I think it's time I gave Mr. Simmons more credit: Only spend it if I need it. I don't need to see HBP, I have the book, and, given their record with the movies....I don't know. Instead of the numerous times I was planning to go, I might just go once this time. Twice at the outside most - once to meet the twins (a movie ticket purchase is now required), and once on IMAX...if Andy can talk me into it.


Especially since there's so many other movies. I'm not a WB fan, I'm not a Colombia fan. I'm a fan of the movies, and the actors and actresses. About the only film company I support is Happy Gilmore :) And, as far as I'm concerned, the only things I enjoy off WB are Animaniacs, HP, and, as a record company, Alice Cooper.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EmmaRiddle Twilight is popular undoubtedly but I really don't see it scaring Warner Brothers.

You never know, Emma. Maybe Across the Universe wasn't a big hit there, but it certainly showed off here. Maybe not "Dark Knight" or "Indy 4" standards, pretty well for an unknown. As was Juno. Two movies that shouldn't have hit the radar are still being talked about, one the middle of a controversy. And this time, Twilight already has the fanbase.