wraggster
February 11th, 2008, 18:33
NEWS direct from the set of the next Harry Potter film, The Half-Blood Prince: franchise producers David Heyman and David Barron are refusing to rule out the possibility of splitting JK Rowling's seventh and final Potter book, The Deathly Hallows, into two films.
"We are still discussing it. The announcement will be made hopefully in the not-too-distant future, with regards to the way seven shapes up," Barron tells The Back Room.
The only negative of splitting the book into two films, says Barron, "is that people could possibly perceive it as being one last chance at cashing in. But the real positive, if we were to do that, would be that we wouldn't have quite the battle we always have of 'How do you compress all that book into just over two hours of screen time?'
"It would be brilliant not to have to cut anything.
"But at the same time, we have to think it through properly. We'd have to be very certain that there were two proper, stand-alone films that could be generated from the source material."
The rumour mill is also already working overtime on who will direct the final instalment(s).
"There are an awful lot of directors, luckily for us, who are very keen on finishing the franchise off," says Barron.
Heyman is a tad more circumspect.
"A couple of people have expressed interest, people have gotten a few calls and a few emails, but it's still a year away," Heyman says.
"We won't start filming 'til February next year. So it hasn't really gone bananas yet. We've got thoughts, and I'm sure something will be announced in the not-too-distant future."
The sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, will shoot for another three months, and is due for release in November.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23193971-5006013,00.html
"We are still discussing it. The announcement will be made hopefully in the not-too-distant future, with regards to the way seven shapes up," Barron tells The Back Room.
The only negative of splitting the book into two films, says Barron, "is that people could possibly perceive it as being one last chance at cashing in. But the real positive, if we were to do that, would be that we wouldn't have quite the battle we always have of 'How do you compress all that book into just over two hours of screen time?'
"It would be brilliant not to have to cut anything.
"But at the same time, we have to think it through properly. We'd have to be very certain that there were two proper, stand-alone films that could be generated from the source material."
The rumour mill is also already working overtime on who will direct the final instalment(s).
"There are an awful lot of directors, luckily for us, who are very keen on finishing the franchise off," says Barron.
Heyman is a tad more circumspect.
"A couple of people have expressed interest, people have gotten a few calls and a few emails, but it's still a year away," Heyman says.
"We won't start filming 'til February next year. So it hasn't really gone bananas yet. We've got thoughts, and I'm sure something will be announced in the not-too-distant future."
The sixth film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, will shoot for another three months, and is due for release in November.
http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,23193971-5006013,00.html