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Warner's 'Harry Potter' Sequel Pushed Back to July

by: Julia Boorstin August 15, 2008 | about stocks: DIS / DWA / TWX    

Julia Boorstin

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Warner Bros. made a surprise announcement Thursday -- it's pushing the release of its Harry Potter sequel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November 11 to July 17, 2009.

That's eight months -- leaving Warner Bros. without its holiday season tentpole!

This is huge: it will impact Time Warner's (TWX) earnings, and it'll also help other films coming out in November. Warner Bros. is attributing the change to the writers strike.

Alan Horn, Warners' president says the strike slowed down script development, leaving holes in 2009. Horn says in a statement, "We agreed the best strategy was to move 'Half-Blood Prince' to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tentpole release for mid-summer."

But Pali Research analyst Rich Greenfield says this move is to help Time Warner hit its targets. Greenfield writes:

"We believe TWX is shifting the film to help it achieve earnings expectations in 2008 (moving expensive P & A out of Q4 2008, at the same time that several successful films are set to hit DVD for Warner)."

Greenfield also points out how this will help the rest of the landscape, opening up the playing field for Dreamworks Animation's (DWA) Madagascar 2, which opens on November 7, and Disney's (DIS) November 21 debut of Bolt.

"Harry Potter" is a tremendous franchise for Warner Bros., and this shift is a testament to the long-term impact of the writers' strike. It also demonstrates the relative extremes studios and media companies are willing to go to to hit Wall Street targets. Trailers for the film are already running, and the studio says post-production is finished, so it's really about delaying the costs of the release.

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This article has 2 comments:

  •  
    Aug 15 06:54 PM
    WOW! I usually maintain a professional demeanor with my posts but as a Potter fan this is just messed up. Financially, I get the move but don't buy the writers strike angle since post production is reportedly complete.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 21 02:56 PM
    I think it may also have to do with the fact that Dark Knight has done so well that 2009 will not look as good in comparison. Pushing out Potter gives them a chance to have a more favorable comparison.
    Reply
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