Harry Potter fans everywhere should have been thankful for November. It was supposed to be the month when "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" hit movie theaters.
Instead, in August, Warner Bros. decided to move the release date. Now, Potter fans must wait until July 17, 2009 to see the film.
The studio says the decision was made when last winter's writers' strike held up production of several big summer films it had planned. "Half-Blood Prince" was moved to summer because the studio knows it will attract a big audience.
When this decision was announced, many Potter fans protested, signing petitions and even threatening to boycott the film when it finally is released. How do local fans feel? Two dedicated Harry Potter fans weigh in on the issue.
St. Albans High School senior Nick Smith understands the studio's reasoning pushing back the release date. However, he thinks other things - the box office performance of past Harry Potter films and fans' loyalty - should have been taken into consideration.
"Warner Bros. said it delayed the launch was because of the writers' strike from early November until mid February. They lost over a billion dollars, and they have to make that up in profits," he said.
"While I understand that companies such as Warner Bros. have an obligation to generate profit in order to stay in business -- which is why they make the movies in the first place -- the first Harry Potter movie generated over $300 million [in the U.S.], and none since has failed to generate less than $250 million in profit," he continued.
"Warner Bros. owes it to their loyal fans - the millions of them -- to give them what they've been clamoring for for over a year now. They built up a lot of hype, and then decided to move it [the movie] because they thought that they would make more profit by releasing it when people had more free time.
"Although this seems like a good idea, people are now calling for a boycott of the movie. I don't really think they thought through how angry people were going to be," Smith concluded.
Though Smith is levelheaded about the issue, many Harry Potter fans are very emotional (aka furious) about the subject. St. Albans High School senior Kelli Richards is one of those fans.
" I don't see a reason why they needed to move it," she said. "They [Warner Bros.] are stating the reason for the movie is because they were affected by the writers strike, which isn't true because the scripts are written years in advance."
"The only reason that they felt they needed to move 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' was because summer sales make more profit," she continued. "I feel like a little kid who has been told that Christmas has been canceled or that the Tooth Fairy isn't real.
"Warner Bros. is making more enemies than need be all because they want more money."
Only time will tell whether or not Warner Bros. decision to move "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" will pay off in terms of profit. Until then, we have nine long months to wait and think about it.
