Deathly Hallows split in two, Singer to direct Superman sequel

Warner Bros. has announced that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final film in the ginormous franchise, will be split into two films.

While not a huge surprise, my old cynical self wants to say that this reason stems from a more financial side than a need to give the best, full treatment to the last volume of J.K. Rowlings boy wizard.

Since the fourth film, the crew of the Harry Potter franchise have had to cut much of Rowling's tales down to fit it into a film that would last no longer than 2 1/2 hours. This has lead to many complaints from fans that while the jist of the story remains, much of what made the books charming have been lost.

Meanwhile, David Yates, who directed The Order of the Phoenix, and is helming this years The Half-Blood Prince, will complete the trifecta by directing the final fim.

Warners expects Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt.1 to be out November 2010, followed by part 2 May 2011.

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Meanwhile, director Bryan Singer has confirmed he'll return to helm Superman: The Man of Steel, the sequel to Superman Returns.

Singer told Emipre Online that he is aware of criticism about his earlier effort, which some said lacked enough action. "The first one was a romantic film and a nostalgic film," he said. "I'll be the first person to own up to that without making any apologies for it. I knew it was going to be that from the outset. And now that the characters are established, there's really an opportunity to up the threat levels. ... Clearly there'll be a body count [laughs]. From frame one, it will be unrelenting terror! All those teenage girls who found the movie and mooned over James Marsden or Brandon [Routh]? Well, I'm going to wake them up!"

More Deathly Hallows stuff

A couple of post ago, I commented on the epilogue to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I was curious why Rowling did not include information about what Harry and the rest of the group had been doing for the last 19 years.

It appears Wikipedia had some answers:

In an interview, author J. K. Rowling gave additional information about the characters that is not mentioned in the book. The epilogue does not directly state that Ron and Hermione are married, but Rowling confirmed that indeed they are.

• Harry and Ron are both Aurors; Harry is the department head, and Hermione is "very high up" in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
• Luna Lovegood has become a naturalist of sorts, searching the world for odd and unique creatures.
• At Hogwarts there is a permanent Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and the jinx Voldemort had placed on this job was broken after his death. There is also an unknown headmaster, as Professor McGonagall, who was the interim Headmistress, was getting too old to assume the position permanently. Rowling did not identify either the Headmaster or the Defense against the Dark Arts teacher.

Rowling felt that including all of this information in the book made it too "neat" of an ending.

Oh, well, I see her point, but still...

More on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

With a good night sleep and a day of work (and a bike ride) behind me, I have more thoughts on the final Harry Potter book.

The 19 years later still bothers me a bit. In one sense, if you are going to do a Where Are They Now, why not give more information. Harry needs to live a mundane, Muggle life and die a natural death for everything to work. What has he done for those last 19 years? Did he become a dentist, an accountant, the Prime Minister (and is anyone else creeped out by Harry and Ginny's marriage? With Harry so close to the Weasley's and with Mrs. Weasley calling Harry another son, his and Ginny's marriage seems almost incestuous)?

Same with Ron and Hermione -what exactly have they been doing (beyond Ron passing his drivers license at the age of 36)?

Why is Tonks and Lupin's kid Teddy doing on the Hogwarts train. He should be 19, yet all the students graduate at the age of 17.

And speaking of Lupin and Tonks, their deaths seemed silly, almost tacked on. Rowling mentioned that she long ago wrote the last chapter before she begun Deathly Hallows. She mentioned two characters that survived, now died, while one that had died, now survived.

Was Tonks and Lupin the two that survived first, only to die later?

And back to the last chapter. Who is the Headmaster at Hogworts? While Neville is a professor there, who's in charge?

Maybe, as Kenny suggested, Rowling might be considering these "minor" characters as a basis for a new series. But, as I mentioned in my last post, I personally hope she ventures somewhere else.

I'm just bothered by some of these things.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Been gone for a bit, as I had to finish this book.

A grand finale for a grand series, if I can say. It is an emotional ride, one filled with great loss and a few surprises. A bit overlong -especially during Harry and Hermione's flight from the Death Eaters, which seemed to go on and on - but I loved it.

The ending was a bit rushed, also, but the last chapter gave us a nice wrap up of everything -though I wished a little more inter-action with the Malfoy's would've been explained.

Still, a small quibble. These are, after all, children's books.

I wonder what JK Rowling has next in store for us?

I hope a new series, with new characters and new adventures.

Long live Harry Potter.

Cover for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is released

With 17 year-old Harry reaching for the sky -or the final batch of money, the 784 page last book in the super best selling, gets its cover debut.

Once again, look for the book to go on sale at 12.01 am, July 21, 2007.