Warner Bros move release date of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

In a shock move Warner Bros annouced a few hours ago that the release date of the 6th working of Jo Rowlings book Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince into a film will move to 17 July 2009.

Warners senior management said in a statement "We know the summer season is an ideal window for a family tent-pole release, as proven by the success of our last Harry Potter film, which is the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, behind only the first installment.

"Additionally, like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers' strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films--changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of.

"We agreed the best strategy was to move Half-Blood Prince to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent-pole release for mid-summer.

"The release date change does not alter the production schedule for this or future Harry Potter films.

"Post-production on Half-Blood Prince was completed on time, and the studio's release plans for the two-part Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will not be affected by this change. "We know Harry Potter fans are eagerly anticipating seeing the final chapters unfold onscreen. In fact, the good news for them is that the gap will now be shortened between Half-Blood Prince and the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."

Meanwhile at the official Harry Potter website the release dat has been change to 17 July 2009