They should have done this with book 4 as well...

[acroyear]

'Harry Potter' finale to be split into two movies:

The last installment in the Harry Potter movie franchise will be released in two parts--because one edit of The Deathly Hallows will leave out too much information about the boy wizard's final adventures.

The sixth film in the series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, is due for release in November, and although the characters' futures are wrapped up in just seven novels by author J.K. Rowling, fans of the movies will be given an extra treat with a double dose of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A source says, "There's so much to fit that the view is the last movie should be in two halves. There is a huge battle when Harry, played by Daniel Radcliffe, takes on (evil wizard, Lord) Voldemort (played by Ralph Fiennes) that needs to be done really well."

And Rowling has briefly commented on the reports herself, stating on her Web site: "It is simply impossible to incorporate every storyline into a film under four hours long."

Fans of the books have previously criticized the big-screen adaptations for their lack of detail.

I do think the final edit of movie 5 was alright.  Although in ALL the films, the biggest hassle is that much of the exposition, especially the epilogue discussions between Harry and Dumbledore, are always what gets cut yet that's where the best of Albus always comes out.  Kinda annoying that - because of those cuts, I haven't grown to like Gambon's portrayal as much as I think I should.

Comments

[javasaurus.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure that even two movies would have sufficed for HP4. It's simply too big for the big screen. I'm increasingly of the opinion that the "short story" is a good length for a movie. A novel of any length always requires severe edits that will undoubtedly ruin the story, upset the fanbase, or both. I dread the thought of turning something the size of Wheel of Time into a movie, it's just too big. Maybe a television series could do it justice, but that would flop for other reasons.

Then there is Hollywood's desire to change stories to appeal to a broader fanbase. Does that ever actually work?