I'm happy about the earlier date... but now that ruins my plans. That weekend (July 13-15) my company is planning a trip to Orlando, so we had that friday off. So, I was able to make it to the midnight premiere, going home late, and then not have to wake up early the following day. Now, I won't be able to go to midnight premiere, seeing that I'd have to wake up at 7 a.m the next day to go to work. Oh well, I guess I'll have to see it that friday...on the day it was supposed to be released. Atleast I'll be able to see it. Although, I'm not surprised that they're releasing it at an earlier date. Seeing that this summer, there will be tons of incredible movies releasing, including sequels and known blockbusters. The competition begun on May 4th, when Spidey came out and I bet WB wants to beat the competition. Good luck to them =)

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!!!!! IT'S ON MY BIRTHDAY NOW :) HAPPY SWEET 16 TO ME!

So...What? Are they going to change the trailers, posters, countdowns, etc? Are they going to move Half Blood Prince's release date as well? (11-21-08) Seems like a rahter big hassle to me, but whatever, all the more joyous to see it sooner!!!

ooo pleeeeeeeeease let this be for Canada too!! That way i can see it before my mom drags me off to victoria. lol However, i think they might be making a mistake here. Pirates opened thursday evening and they appparently lost a bit of money in the weekend box office... Who knows?

"People who say this will decrease the opening weekend are wrong - the reason WB have done this is because adding two days to the release before the weekend will count as part of the weekend." It doesn't count as part of the weekend. It's why Pirates of the Caribbean had such a disappointing opening weekend; Thursday night showings took a lot away from it. I'm also a little upset about this because I liked seeing HP on opening night with all the big fans, but unfortunately....on Wednesday, I can't.

I don't like this either. I was planning on going to the midnight premiere and taking off work that Friday to catch up on sleep and probably see the movie again. But now I can't get off work on that Wednesday if I go the the midnight showing. Too darn busy at work to take off on Wednesdays!

I'm SO not happy about this. For a year, I've planned to see Harry Potter with my friends, and I've already bought the plane tickets so I could go tot the midnight showing. This really stinks.

There's going to be a lot of Harry Potter hype in July. I bet they are just trying to get a couple of extra days in before the book comes out. Once the book is out the hype (in the entertainment business) will definitely start to wane. I don't think it's a box office thing because they only count weekend sales as Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. For Pirates they didn't count the Thursday shows in the total weekend gross. Either way it doesn't matter to me, I'm going to be there at midnight.

do you realize how many people want to see the movie when it just comes out? extending the "weekend" by two days will basically allow thinning down of masses, so there is no mass murder at the theatre doors. It's good. The hard core fans will have seen it by Friday night, and allow more space and a chance for regular movie goers to see the movie in the first opening weekend. It's good. Now, is there a chance that book release will be moved up? [hopeful, but not optimistic]

I'm guessing the Canadian release will be the same as the US. Unless they make it the 10th in Canada....

I'm actually kinda sad about this. I wanted to go see it on opening night, but now I can't, cuz I go to bed at 9:00 and get up at 4:00....I could go when I get off, but I don't have anyone to watch my son....oh well, I'll just have to wait till Friday night...I'm more excited about the book. anyway, enough rambling... :o)

I don't think that it will hurt the box office in anyway. Lord of the Rings always opened on Wednesday and it always did pretty well.

Now all the count down clocks will have to be reset.

They know it is going to BLOW OUT the box offices. All of the Hp movies have and let's face it, this will be the BEST one to date :) They just want to make the most of it by allowing a 5 day weekend release. It will be number one for weeks, trust me! I plan on seeing it EVERYDAY that it is in theatres. YAY for not having a life!!!

OK. So are you going to fix the desktop countdowns to reflect the new date?