Last week it was announced that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince would be pushed back from a November release to a July 19th 2009 date. This prompted other studios to do some shuffling, as both Disney’s Bolt and the teen vampire flick Twilight pounced on the prime November 21st spot vacated by Potter. The main reason for the Potter move was blamed on the writer’s strike leaving a gaping hole in next summer’s slate for Warner Brothers. Well, fans are none too pleased with this decision, since they will have to wait almost eight months longer to watch the next installment of the franchise, a film that will be finished far before it’s released. Warner Brothers, fearing that the fans will decide not to show up, and thus ruining their whole scheme, are trying to placate the fans. WB president and COO Alan Horn has released a statement explaining things. Though it doesn’t offer much in the way of apology, hopefully for WB’s sake it will be accepted by the fans and will make them come out in full force for the film. The statement is below.

Many of you have written to me to express your disappointment in our moving “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009.

Please be assured that we share your love for Harry Potter and would certainly never do anything to hurt any of the films. Over the past 10 years, we have nurtured and protected each film, and the integrity of the books upon which they are based, to the best of our ability.

The decision to move “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” was not taken lightly, and was never intended to upset our Harry Potter fans. We know you have built this series into what it is, and we thank you for your ongoing enthusiasm and support.

If I may offer a silver lining: there would have been a two-year gap between “Half-Blood Prince” and the much-anticipated first part of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” which opens in November 2010.

So although we have to wait a little longer for “Half-Blood Prince,” the wait from that film until “Deathly Hallows” will be less than 18 months. I am sorry to have disappointed you now, but if you hold on a little longer, I believe it will be worth the wait.

Alan Horn
President, Chief Operating Officer
Warner Bros.