While we have new photos from “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” and news about “Deathly Hallows” (see below) to occupy our time, reaction to the news that HBP has been pushed back until next July continues to dominate the press. Today, the LA Times has a new article online that notes the furious reaction by Harry Potter fans (“among the most intense devotees in contemporary pop culture”), and points out that “petitions were circulating, rumors were flying and angry screeds were being posted on Internet sites within minutes of the Thursday announcement.” The fact that fans were upset with the announcement of the new release date was not lost on Warner Bros president Alan Horn. The LA Times included this gem that reads as follows. “Horn acknowledged that the studio would have to pacify fans in the months to come: “We would never do anything to hurt one of the movies or the series. We love our fans.”
On a related note, the rescheduling of the film has impacted other events tied in to the previously scheduled release this fall. The BBC reports that indeed the Royal Performance and UK premiere of the film had been canceled.But he was hopeful a Royal premiere would still go ahead this year.
In the same article, WB’s Alan Horn is also cited as saying “I’ve seen the movie. It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November.”
Among all the disappointment, there is a bit of bright news for IMAX who announced that “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be screening on the day of release, July 17, 2009. Reps for the company also said that “when “Harry Potter” does open next summer, it will appear in close to 100 of its new digital theaters, as opposed to about 40 estimated to be in operation by November. “It’s a better revenue opportunity for us at that point.” IMAX says that, as announced previously, they will also release HBP which will contain parts of the film in 3-D.
“It was the first time the annual gala – held in aid of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF) – had been scrapped since 1958. CTBF chief executive Peter Hore told BBC News he was “very disappointed” with the decision to shelve the Potter premiere.”
I feel very sorry for the CTBF, and by moving the premiere, WB has not only upset us fans, but also caused a lot of money not to go to charities.
I’m very disappointed at WB, and if WB loved their fans enough, they would not have done this. I think we should not blame the directors and producers of the movie, but the people at WB who made this decision only a few months before the release date.
Okay, so I knew this would happen. They knew we were going to be upset, I just hope by “pacifying” us they actually do something not just wait for us to calm down.
Wow. This is the first I’ve heard of this news! I’m extremely disappointed. This situation is regrettable on so many levels. Because of our fandom’s extreme devotion to everything Harry Potter we can be taken advantage of. Warner Brothers decision in this case was made solely on profit, and did not take the fans into consideration because we have proven to be so devoted. This has made me extremely disenchanted with WB, and has but the entire fandom in an extremely awkward position.
This is an abomination. How they can do this…! It makes me absolutely furious. And the article in EW almost made it worse, based on the inaccuracies that were portraying in it. Harry flirting with a waitress in the opening scene, Hermione just shooting a gust of wind at Ron instead of the birdies— I am so pissed off.
Alan Horn is an idiot. Honestly, the summer will be a wider audience, but there’s no guarantee of more money. This is especially true of Harry Potter movies. Harry Potter movies have a guaranteed fanbase, therefore guaranteed money. Also, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone earned the most amount of money, and let’s just think about when that was released. Oh right. The freaking fall. What we, the fans, ought to do is not go see it opening weekend. See it the weekend after. Movie companies are obsessed with opening weekend box office. Sometimes, it makes or breaks a movie. What we do is give Alan “Moron” Horn a bit of a scare by giving Harry Potter 6 an awful opening weekend. Then we all go on the second weekend, giving it a really really good second weekend, therefore, showing how important the fans are to the franchise. Effing Alan Horn. Or we could spraypaint the studios.
Good luck trying to pacify us… not going to happen unless the date is changed back!
We fãs need to organize…. isolated boycots won’t do anygood. If we could organize and all do something… that would be awesome, and they wouldn’t try this on us again!
Oh! And leaky…. the site is slow as ever. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to post this comment! I know th flow of people accessing the site must’ve grown with yesterday’s news…. but still, isn’t there a way to make the site lighter?
So… I guess this is really happening. I only have one complant. If you’ve already seen the damn movie and says it’s ‘fabulous’ and that it could be released in November, why in the bloody hell don’t you then? I’m sad to say this, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this movie doesn’t make as much as the rest. There’s a lot of pissed off people right now, including me.
With the economy as it is right now, several movies have been pushed back (Star Trek, The Time Traveler’s Wife, now HBP). ALL companies want to make as much money as possible, that why they’re in BUSINESS. What’s with this attitude that making more money is bad? Wouldn’t you all like to make a little more if you could?
The real concern is this: Potter films have always dominated the box office for whatever year it was in. They have always made hundreds of millions of dollars no matter what time of year they were shown. So why is this film being pushed back? Why does it need less competition?
The film probably isn’t as good as the previous five, so they need more time for the fine-tuning, editing, and marketing. If they’re concerned about money, then we should be concerned about the content and quality of the film. WB has never been concerned about money on the previous films because they always made a killing.
To protest, hit them where it hurts. Send a letter to Warner Bros. informing them you plan to boycott all Warner Brothers films in the theaters and that you will deliberately see a competing film on the opening weekends of Warner Brothers films, as the opening weekend box office race is now all important to studio execs. Upcoming releases from Warner Brothers and its subsidiaries include:
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
The Women
Appaloosa
RocknRolla
Body of Lies
Pride and Glory
Four Christmases
Yes Man
“It was the first time the annual gala – held in aid of the Cinema and Television Benevolent Fund (CTBF) – had been scrapped since 1958. CTBF chief executive Peter Hore told BBC News he was “very disappointed” with the decision to shelve the Potter premiere.”
I feel very sorry for the CTBF, and by moving the premiere, WB has not only upset us fans, but also caused a lot of money not to go to charities. I’m very disappointed at WB, and if WB loved their fans enough, they would not have done this. I think we should not blame the directors and producers of the movie, but the people at WB who made this decision only a few months before the release date.