Filed under: Production Update

Where Exactly Will 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' be Split?

And what's Radcliffe think of that epilogue situation?

I like Matrix Reloaded despite all of its flaws, but one thing I always disliked was the awful cliffhanger ending. It made the film feel entirely incomplete and I'm not sure if it was the fact I knew Matrix Revolutions was just around the corner or what exactly, but the idea of a cliffhanger ending to a movie is a rather cheap trick leaving the audience with an unfulfilled movie experience. So, when I read a new article at Empire magazine in which Daniel Radcliffe says the split breaking up part one and part two of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is "at a very tense cliffhanger" I don't exactly know what to think about that especially since we have pretty much the exact same situation we had with the final two parts in the Matrix trilogy.

Harry Potter franchise producer David Heyman added some words saying, "We've played around with a couple of places and ultimately settled on a place that we think is very exciting, and I think quite bold, in that it's not necessarily where one might expect. You want to give a sense of completion, on one hand, but a sense that there's another piece, more to come. We tried one and then Steve (Kloves, screenwriter) came up with the idea to try it another way and when we tried that, it felt just right."

I hope Heyman's statement saying the wanted to give a "sense of completion" isn't too far off base because I think that's very important. As much as the split on Deathly Hallows seems like a money grab, I am interested in seeing how they handle what will pretty much be the first Harry Potter film adaptation that can really be explored in its entirety without the complications of running time.

Where they will split it I have no idea. I read the book, but don't remember it well enough to think of a great spot.

As for the recent news revealed to MTV saying the epilogue at the end of Rowling's "Deathly Hallows" will be included and CG will be used to age the current actors Daniel Radcliffe had this to add:

I am nervous about that because if it's good I'll be really, really pleased; if it's not good and that's what people are left with, that would be awful. If it's a choice between having me, Rupert and Emma looking a bit stupid and it being slightly comical or having other actors play us, I would go for other actors every time. So, we'll see.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I hits theaters on November 19, 2010 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II follows on July 15, 2011.


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Post #1
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Have to start with the information that I am not a Harry Potter film fan. I think the trio of actors playing the leads all put in poor overbaked performances. You'd think the producers would invest in some acting lessons for them out of the profits but I guess it's a case of good enough is good enough.

But I must say that Daniel Radcliffe comes off as intelligent and professional in his remarks. I've been of two minds about the last Harry Potter films ever since I heard the last book would be two films. I don't think it has two films in it, but definitely too much for one. Willl they develop the sub plots this time? Well, if not, they've run out of excuses.

- Patricia
( April 22nd, 2009 | 11:39 am )
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Post #2
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I would've preferred Alfonso Cuaron at the helm of Deathly Hallows. Imho, Prisoner of Azkaban was the best film of the series by far.

- junjun
( April 22nd, 2009 | 11:52 am )
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Post #3
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David Yates WILL royally rape, maim and barf out the worst possible movie versions of Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows.

Someone throw a cruciactus curse on him already for ruining the series. Alfonso Cuaron should be back in the director's seat ASAP.

- ash
( April 22nd, 2009 | 2:58 pm )
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Post #4
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It wasn't his direction that ruined the series in 5, it was a non-Steve Kloves script, which has been remedied for 6/7/8.

The script was really week in 5, but the direction wasn't horrible. I agree that Cuaron did the best directing job, and Mike Newell was great too, but I don't think Yates will do a bad job.

- Scott
( April 22nd, 2009 | 4:43 pm )
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Post #5
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Cuaron was the best by far. But at least Yates has a VERY nice taste with art direction, and I did prefer his direction to Mike Newell's and Chris Colombus's.

I am a big Harry Potter fan, but I must say two things:

1) I never thought the split was necessary. It could have been done in one film.
2) Whether two films or just one, the epilogue is most DEFINITELY not necessary! If making DH two films is sort of unnecessary, including the epilogue is beyond gratuitous! Wait, no, the epilogue is beyond gratuitous in any sense. It was beyond gratuitous in the book; it was obvious Rowling only included it as a protection against being pressured to do a sequel. Absolutely nothing happened in the epilogue, and it added nothing to the ending at all. In fact, the book would have ended far better without that little epilogue. The last chapter was so great, and the ending so final and complete, and then she had to go and, as one of my fellow Potter-fan friends put it, "throw some sh!t together!" I wish they'd just cut it altogether.

- JM
( April 22nd, 2009 | 6:40 pm )
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Post #6
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@ash:

Royally rape and maim and barf out the worst possible movie version? Are you sure you're not referring to Michael Bay lol? Anyway, I do echo what the earlier posts say. Cuaron would've been the man for me as well for Deathly Hallows. I actually read a while back that JK Rowling herslelf said that Azkaban was her fave of all the Potter Films thus far.

- Kevin
( April 22nd, 2009 | 10:58 pm )
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Post #7
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Word to JM about the unnecessary AND unimaginative epilogue. If she had to write it, she should've made it action-packed with a glimpse into grown-up Harry's life as an Auror. I guess she wanted the series to come full circle with his son boarding the train at 9 & 3/4 for the very first time. Whatever.

I'm one of the few who supports the book being divided into two parts though. DH was my favorite book of the series and I'm happy to know that we'll be able to see as many side plotlines on the big screen as possible(Previous movies, especially 'Chamber of Secrets', suffered because they excluded so much from what was in the book).

I have a theory that the first movie ends with Harry and his friends captured and taken to Malfoy Manor, or maybe when they just escape the manor seconds before Voldemort's arrival. Whatever the cliffhanger is, I don't expect it to be as frustrating for viewers as the Matrix films, primarily because a huge majority of those going to watch it already know what is in store for them in the concluding film.

- Vik
( April 24th, 2009 | 7:45 am )
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Post #8
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I have loved all the Harry Potter movies and the actors who play the parts. I think they are all very good. I would have liked to see more the books in the movies, but I am looking forward to the final movie even if it is split and I must wait for the 2nd half if it means having more of the book included. I love the epilog at the end. It lets you know what happened after the war. I too would have liked something on what each one was doing by then, what jobs each held. All in all I still enjoy reading the series which I do before each movie comes out. They are great books and are a good lesson in good and evil

- Denise
( July 16th, 2009 | 9:26 am )
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