Details on Harry Potter’s Deathly Hallows Split, First Set Pics

Published by Jeff Leins on: April 21st, 2009

Around this time last year, Warner Bros announced it was planning to split the seventh and final Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two movies.  The first part will be released in November 2010 and the second half in May 2011, both directed by Potter V and VI helmer David Yates.

The studio’s decision is for both financial and artistic reasons.  The Harry Potter film series has made over $4.5 billion on just five movies with a sixth rapidly approaching.  Two movies allows them to milk the cash cow a bit more before finding the next big family franchise.  Though WB executives and Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe insist, “it’s the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book.”

Whichever the reason, WB has been discussing options for the inevitable cliffhanger.  Talking with Empire Magazine, producer David Heyman said, “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.” Daniel Radcliffe added that the split is “at a very tense cliffhanger,” which may be a bigger clue for fans.

On the right is the first set picture from the film, already shooting in London, via The Telegraph.  Or check out CelebBuzz’s set pic gallery.  Now back to the news.  Warning!  Story spoilers ahead!

According to The Leaky Cauldron, a reliable site for all things Harry Potter, credible sources put the Hallows split during the visit to Xeno Lovegood’s home when the Death Eaters arrive and begin their assault.

The Empire article also continues the discussion about the ending of the seventh book.  Author J.K. Rowling wrote a coda that takes place 19 years after the battle at Hogwarts.  The story picks up with Harry, Ron, and Hermoine as adult parents with little Hogwarts students of their own.  Heyman wants to use Benjamin Button style special effects to age the main actors Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.  Radcliffe admits his hesitation by saying, “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… We’ll see.”

He just doesn’t want it to “look silly.”  They’ll probably end up using the technology.  After all, Benjamin Button certainly didn’t look ridiculous.  It won the Oscar for “Best Achievement in Visual Effects.”