Want to see Harry? Get ready to wait
August 14th, 2008 at 04:36pm Will Pfeifer
According to the movie news site Cinematical, Warner Bros. has moved the release date of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE from Thanksgiving of ‘08 to summer of ‘09.
Here’s what WB honcho Alan Horn said in a press release: “Our reasons for shifting Half-Blood Prince to summer are twofold: We know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent-pole release…. Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers’ strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films, changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of…. [Half-Blood Prince] perfectly fills the gap for a major tent-pole release for mid-summer.”
Blah, blah, tentpole, yada yada, impacted… If you ask me, this means WB saw this summer’s slate — THE DARK KNIGHT, INDIANA JONES, IRON MAN, WALL-E — and realized next summer could be wide open for HALF-BLOOD PRINCE to bring home the kind of bacon you just don’t find between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Personally, I always thought the British vibe of the POTTER films worked nicely with a holiday season release, but I’m not the one making these decisions.
So start standing in line now. July 17 — the new opening day — will be here before you know it.
On the plus side, VALKYRIE — the Tom Cruise movie about a plot to kill Hitler — has been moved from 2009 back to 2008. It opens the day after Christmas. Maybe Cruise’s much-hyped role in TROPIC THUNDER has won him some goodwill at the MGM.
Entry Filed under: Movie news
3 Comments Add your own
1. Brian M | August 14th, 2008 at 6:41 pm
I’m glad to see Valkyrie moved back up, as I’m anxious to see it. Bryan Singer back with the writer of Usual Suspects (and writer/director of the hugely underrated Way of the Gun) Christopher McQuarrie? I’m in!!
As for Tom Cruise’s “much-hyped” role in Tropic Thunder? It didn’t elicit so much as chuckle. It wouldn’t have even been funny as a cameo, but to stretch it out to a full supporting role (and a pointless and stupid credits sequence) almost made me hate the entire film.
2. Jerry | August 14th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
WB has to do what they have to do to make the most dough, but it still sucks. I really wanted to see a Potter film in theatres this holiday season. Like Will said, for some reason they just seem to ‘fit’ better there rather than in the summer.
Oh well.
As for Valkyrie I really want to see it for one reason. McQuarrie. He is one of my favorite writers and is way under used in Hollywood. Everything he has put out there is unique and interesting.
3. Will Pfeifer | August 15th, 2008 at 9:01 am
I’m with you guys on VALKYRIE. I like Singer and McQuarrie, and it’s got a heckuva premise. Cruise, to me, is the weak factor, but he can be okay with the right script and direction.
I haven’t seen TROPIC THUNDER yet, but I honestly think it shot itself in the foot by putting so much hype into Cruise’s performance. I’ll bet it would be a lot funnier — and a lot more fun — to have him suddently appear in those scenes, without months of advance publicity on how hilarious he is. Those things rarely live up to expectations.
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