Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Delayed

Vegito728 · 08-16-2008, 01:23 AM

Quote:

This month's most shocking and surprising news arrived just yesterday: Warner Brothers announced that they were pushing back the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November 21st, 2008 to July 17th, 2009, a full 8 months later.

Release date changes are always expected in Hollywood, especially when films encounter production troubles or other snags, but the reaction to this date change has been tremendous, and not in a good way. In fact, the reaction has been incredibly negative, with fans lashing out in anger and calling for boycotts and petitions.

Even I was taken aback by the news, but I never expected the fans to be so angry at a change that in theory was supposed to be for the betterment of the movie. Could a fan backlash this negative actually cause Warner Brothers to rescind the date change?

I know I was frustrated when I realized I wouldn't be able to look forward to another Harry Potter this year. However, there is a difference between being temporarily upset that you will have to wait 8 more months and being furious and angry at Warner Brothers, who has generally treated Harry Potter fans very well over the years.

If they mess with something this precious to millions of fans and it causes such a negative reaction, it's not something they can ignore. Fans are essential to the success of a movie as long as they're happy and excited - The Dark Knight proved that.

Comments on our article range from peaceful protests like (#13): "This is a huge disappointment for WB and for Harry Potter." To loquacious outbursts like this one (#17): "All its doing is pissing off its fan base. That includes me, so **** off Warner Bros, you ruined my day." With 48 comments written so far, nearly none of them have anything positive to say.

There are two important things to note. First, that Warner Brothers should have made this announcement much earlier instead of within 3 months of the initial release (and right after debuting a fantastic teaser trailer). And second, that one trend I'm noticing amongst moviegoers is that they're losing hope for the film, claiming that it will be just as bad as Order of the Phoenix (which actually still ended up performing quite well).

As I said earlier, this kind of decision is something that is actually hurting Warner Brothers, not helping them. We don't even see people getting this angry at Lionsgate for butchering Punisher: War Zone (see this article). I'm honestly worried that Warner Brothers has broken their trust with countless fans and has undoubtedly caused their box office earnings to probably change for the worst.

I'm very curious to see if Warner Brothers will be smart enough to watch this reaction and potentially change the date back. Unfortunately no one knows the real details behind why it was moved. If they need more time to edit and finish visual effects (which seems to be the case for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and its one year delay), then it wouldn't help to force the film back to its earlier date. No one wants a rushed film with rushed visual effects and editing.

However, if the decision was made based on marketing strategy or their overflow of films, it would certainly be in their best interest to put Harry Potter back where he belongs - on the big screen at Thanksgiving. This time, the fans do truly control the success of the movie. Is this negative fan reaction powerful enough to potentially cause Warner Brothers to move Half-Blood Prince back to its original November date?

Note: The planned split release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows features both a November and May date. The first part will hit theaters on November 19th, 2010 and the second part will tentatively hit theaters in May, 2011. This change, if it remains, leaves less waiting time between Half-Blood Prince and Part I of Deathly Hallows, which might cause the production schedule to shift.

Source: Harry Potter Delay Evokes Angry Outbursts Amongst Fans « FirstShowing.net

There's nothing like HP fan boys now is there?

troubl3dmind · 08-16-2008, 01:27 AM

Books are always better than the movies, and Harry Potter is no exception. Read the books to get the full experience and then just wait for the movies. If you've read the books the wait isn't that long anyway. I've read through book seven and seen up to five in the movies? I already know what happens lol

ysabel · 08-16-2008, 01:48 AM

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Originally Posted by Vegito728

This month's most shocking and surprising news arrived just yesterday: Warner Brothers announced that they were pushing back the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November 21st, 2008 to July 17th, 2009, a full 8 months later.

Nooooooooooooo!

Quote:

I know I was frustrated when I realized I wouldn't be able to look forward to another Harry Potter this year. However, there is a difference between being temporarily upset that you will have to wait 8 more months and being furious and angry at Warner Brothers, who has generally treated Harry Potter fans very well over the years.

Um, yeah.

But damn! Eight months...

I'm a big fan and I'm upset but I don't think I'd be starting an anti-WB campaign right now or stage boycotts.

Quote:

There are two important things to note. First, that Warner Brothers should have made this announcement much earlier instead of within 3 months of the initial release (and right after debuting a fantastic teaser trailer). And second, that one trend I'm noticing amongst moviegoers is that they're losing hope for the film, claiming that it will be just as bad as Order of the Phoenix (which actually still ended up performing quite well).

Exactly what came to mind when I read the thread title. I just posted that teaser trailer they recently released. It made me want to see more and get excited about the movie. It also reminded me how soon I'd be seeing it. Before that trailer, I was successfully putting HP out of my mind so I don't get too impatient waiting for it.

Quote:

As I said earlier, this kind of decision is something that is actually hurting Warner Brothers, not helping them. We don't even see people getting this angry at Lionsgate for butchering Punisher: War Zone (see this article). I'm honestly worried that Warner Brothers has broken their trust with countless fans and has undoubtedly caused their box office earnings to probably change for the worst.

I seriously don't think the fans will boycott HP just to get back at WB for moving the date. On that side, WB will not suffer. They're just getting bad publicity right now. But in the industry, even that can be better than not getting publicity at all.

Quote:

I'm very curious to see if Warner Brothers will be smart enough to watch this reaction and potentially change the date back. Unfortunately no one knows the real details behind why it was moved. If they need more time to edit and finish visual effects (which seems to be the case for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and its one year delay), then it wouldn't help to force the film back to its earlier date. No one wants a rushed film with rushed visual effects and editing.

However, if the decision was made based on marketing strategy or their overflow of films, it would certainly be in their best interest to put Harry Potter back where he belongs - on the big screen at Thanksgiving. This time, the fans do truly control the success of the movie. Is this negative fan reaction powerful enough to potentially cause Warner Brothers to move Half-Blood Prince back to its original November date?

I want to know too if it was a production trouble/snag that takes longer to finish the movie or it's just a marketing strategy to reschedule for summer release next year (they seem to have more success than Fall releases).

Atreyu · 08-16-2008, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by troubl3dmind

Books are always better than the movies, and Harry Potter is no exception. Read the books to get the full experience and then just wait for the movies. If you've read the books the wait isn't that long anyway. I've read through book seven and seen up to five in the movies? I already know what happens lol

I agree. The HP movies were pretty mediocre. I only saw the first two

Constantine · 08-20-2008, 12:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Atreyu

I agree. The HP movies were pretty mediocre. I only saw the first two

How can you critique something when you've only seen 40% of them?

photosaurusrex · 08-22-2008, 07:29 AM

I'm a big fan of Harry Potter (the books) I've seen all the films too, and to be honest it wasn't very long to wait until it came out in november, and they're delaying it by eight months because if they release it in the summer, they said that "summertime is the ideal window for a family tent pole release” ie they'll get more money that way. It's a pretty lame excuse, Harry potter isn't a film no one's heard of before, it has had five previous films with massive followings, money shouldn't be an object. However they're too busy thinking about their bank balance to care.

Blueyes · 08-22-2008, 09:03 AM

This totally blew my trip to Myrtle Beach to see it on the IMAX screen since they shut ours down and my one friend was devastated. They could put this one out in the summer for that "blockbuster hit" they are looking for and the next installment in November but they won't.

ysabel · 08-22-2008, 09:32 AM

I just read this:

"Warner Brothers said on Thursday that it would not release “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” the sixth film in the franchise, on Nov. 21 as planned, shifting the opening to July 17. Warner Brothers needed a blockbuster release next summer more than it did this fall, a studio official said, particularly because “The Dark Knight” had so strongly exceeded box office expectations this year. Like its Hollywood rivals, Warner is still feeling the effects of the recent screenwriters’ strike, which affected the readiness of scripts for 2009. Warner also noted that Harry Potter films have tended to perform better during the summer than they have at holiday time, when families have more demands on their leisure time."

********

Bummer.....

PrincessWendy05 · 10-02-2008, 04:00 PM

Biggest HP fan I was. The I met WB. Then it died. Now Im burrying it and thinking about poking WB with a fork. Im also not seeing any WB movies till HP comes out. See how much profit they make out of That. ---_---

MAgnum9987 · 10-02-2008, 04:27 PM

Bummer. I myself think the first two movies where best. As they had the first dumbledore, he kicked ****.but also the cast. I just didn't like the 3-5th movies. Plus, Jk Rollin doesnt do justice to the teenager melodrama thing. How teenagers are so cruel to eachother. The books are all filled with love-hate up-down relationships that really remind me of ABC FAmliy Dramas. It is aggravating. So long as the Delay improves the movie, I don't give a rats ass.