'DEATHLY HALLOWS' Times Two?!
Fresh from the RUMOR MILL: Producers are considering spreading the 776-page Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows over two movies.
JAMES TAPPER at The (U.K.) Daily Mail has spread the rumor that the cinematic adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be released as two films.
The source for Tapper's report is "crew working on the sixth Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince."
"I don't really know why the crew on the current film would be told this at all," wrote CHUD's DEVIN FARACI in response to the article. "Even if everybody would be coming back for Deathly Hallows, how does this effect them right now?"
But Tapper also quotes a "film source" as saying "There's so much to fit that the view is the last movie should be in two halves. There is a huge battle when Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, takes on Voldemort that needs to be done really well."
Whether or not the report is solid, that last quote, at least, rings true. After the 223-page Philosopher's Stone (or Sorceror's Stone in the U.S.), J.K. Rowling's fantasy tomes got progressively longer, maxing out with the nearly 900-page doorstopper, The Order of the Phoenix--or, as a humorous bumper sticker renamed it, Harry Potter and the End of Trees. The filmmakers have, of course, needed to abridge the stories in order to keep the movies under three hours, and fans have complained that (sometimes large) chunks of plot and character were excised in the process.
"I, along with most fans of the book series, [was] rather surprised that Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix had not been split into two films," commented PETER SCIRETTA at SlashFilm. "I think both of the films suffered from plot compression, over-exhausting viewers who had not previously consumed the book versions."
On her own website, Rowling agreed with this reasoning. "It is simply impossible to incorporate every storyline into a film under four hours long."
But some critics are suspicious of these motives for greenlighting an eighth film. After all, though Deathly Hallows has close to 800 pages, Order of the Phoenix, the longest book in the series, ended up being the shortest film thus far.
So what do these critics suggest as the real reason?
"With as much money as the Potter films have made for Warner Brothers it’s no surprise that they’d want to drag this thing out as long as they can," wrote JOSH TYLER at Cinema Blend.
Warner's first five Potter films have raked in billions in box office receipts--more than any other movie series. But sources insisted to The Daily Mail that the reason behind the two-movie plan is not financial, but artistic.
"That’s what Hollywood always says whenever they’re doing something in order to buy another mansion," cracked Tyler.
Keep in mind that this still is a rumor. However, when asked about the reports, a Warner Bros spokesperson replied, "People are discussing all possibilities."