Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

[Priceless]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

It's not that WB is afraid of a longer film. Titanic was incredibly long and it was the most successful film of all-time. But from a bottom-line perspective, could they make more if what is on the screen was longer? Probably not, but they would spend a lot of money filming those scenes. They also want more shows per day, especially in the first two weeks when studios take the lion's share of the revenues. HBP is 2:33 so it can play 4 or 5 times per day. Titanic and LOTR were so long they could only play three times per day. Multiply that extra showing times 3000 screens and 14 days and that's a lot of money.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

I doubt that anyone would argue with that, Priceless.

But considering that each film has made more than five times its budget (although, at $250 mil for HBP, that might be a challenge this time around), and that Warner Bros. seems to have no problem with domestic box office success, it's just funny to see how much WB just wants to milk the cash cow vs. making the best films about the series that they can.

Make boatloads of money + make really good adaptions < Make even more boatloads of money

It surprises no one that that WB thinks that way, but its still worth pointing out- if only because its frustrating to think of what might have been with these movies.

And for the record, no matter how much was cut from Prisoner of Azkaban, its still the best film of the series so far simply because it's by far the best directed.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

I doubt that anyone would argue with that, Priceless.

But considering that each film has made more than five times its budget (although, at $250 mil for HBP, that might be a challenge this time around), and that Warner Bros. seems to have no problem with domestic box office success, it's just funny to see how much WB just wants to milk the cash cow vs. making the best films about the series that they can.

Make boatloads of money + make really good adaptions < Make even more boatloads of money

It surprises no one that that WB thinks that way, but its still worth pointing out- if only because its frustrating to think of what might have been with these movies.

WB doesn't care about making adaptations that are really good, they just care about the cash. Don't get me wrong, I agree and think the movies could be better adaptations and more honest to the books, but that's not what WB is interested in.

 

[The Paragon of Virtue]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

Make boatloads of money + make really good adaptions < Make even more boatloads of money

It's gotten good reviews and has already made a ton of money, and will continue to make a ton of money simply because it's Harry Potter. How much more would they really have made if the movie was even longer? As long as the movie doesn't suck, they know they'll get a massive amount of money, which is really the only thing that matters.

edit: This movie seriously cost $250 million, not counting marketing?

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

edit: This movie seriously cost $250 million, not counting marketing?

Per wikipedia yesterday, yes. The others were all $100-150 million by the same source.

 

[bronconick]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

If you're worried about bad adaptations of books, try Sum of All Fears. Clancy either had no say, or just didn't care what they changed.

 

[powerofyellowandblack]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

Did anyone else notice and just not seem to think that it was a big deal that there was zero mention of the new Minister of Magic?

 

[Foxton]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

Did anyone else notice and just not seem to think that it was a big deal that there was zero mention of the new Minister of Magic?

Well they must be trying to keep the Ministry out of it so it doesn't seem like the entire ruling class is a bunch of backwards retards.

 

[West Texas Wolverine]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

Saw the show last night and enjoyed it, especially Ron asking Harry: "Did you and Ginny do it, then?"
Harry (startled): "What?"
Ron: "Did you hide the book?"
Harry (relieved): "Oh, yeah."

Oddly, my wife thought they overdid the love stuff, but I thought it was a necessary bit of comic relief from the rather dark main plotline.

I loved the actor they got for Slughorn. His expressions were priceless.

Knowing ahead of time that the final battle scene & Dumbledore's funeral would be missing from the end of the movie helped, because otherwise I would've been disappointed. As it turned out, I thought the ending was a nice wrap-up for the preparation for Book 7's search for the rest of the horcruxes.

 

[duper]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

Nerd alert! Nerd alert!

So obviously I know this was a joke, but I just want to point out that this is a Harry Potter thread on a college hockey message board. Everyone of us has huge nerd written all over us.


I went to a midnight showing the night before opening night, and enjoyed it enough to go again two nights later. And mighty glad I did. There was a guy a couple of rows behind me that laughed obnoxiously hard at literally every single joke. It could have been annoying, but was actually hilarious. Several times my friend and I were laughing so hard at that guy we could barely breathe. Good times.

I loved the actor they got for Slughorn. His expressions were priceless.

I really think that every character has been well-cast. I know some don't quite fit their literary descriptions (Ron wasn't particularly tall at the start, Mr. Weasley isn't bald, Prof. MacGonagall is older than in the books, and of course other than being fat the male Dursleys don't fit their descriptions at all) but I have enjoyed all of the casting. My favorite casting decisions have been Alan Rickman as Snape and Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge.

 

[goldy_331]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

Why did the Death Eaters suddenly develop the ability to fly without brooms?

In the book, the battles were fought on broomsticks, in the movie the death eaters were suddenly zooming around as these smoke trails without broomsticks.

I was struck by thinking that is someone wandered into this movie without reading the books, or seeing the previous movies, they would leave saying "what the **** was that about?"

 

[leswp1]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

I said that about most of it. The other ones are on TV and I don't think they perverted the story line as much as they did this one.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

I was struck by thinking that is someone wandered into this movie without reading the books, or seeing the previous movies, they would leave saying "what the **** was that about?"

Well, if they hadn't seen the other movies especially.

I have to think that the movies are actually better for people who haven't read the books, since they don't know much about the missing subplots or missing scenes and thus aren't befuddled at their absence.

 

[theprofromdover]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

So obviously I know this was a joke, but I just want to point out that this is a Harry Potter thread on a college hockey message board. Everyone of us has huge nerd written all over us.

But it takes a real nerd to go into a thread marked "spoiler alert" and ask people not to talk about plot spoilers.

 

[French Rage]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

Well, if they hadn't seen the other movies especially.

I have to think that the movies are actually better for people who haven't read the books, since they don't know much about the missing subplots or missing scenes and thus aren't befuddled at their absence.

As someone who hasn't read the books, I've liked the movies alot and keep coming back. For the last few, multiple viewings, along with reading book synopses, has helped clear a few things up that maybe weren't 100% clear from just seeing the movies. But I can also tell, as is always the case with movie adaptations of books, that I'm really only getting the surface and there's a whole crapload of backstory I'm missing.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

But I can also tell, as is always the case with movie adaptations of books, that I'm really only getting the surface and there's a whole crapload of backstory I'm missing.

Certainly true. And that's not really a good or a bad thing... it just highlights the differences between books and movies, and the best way to show high levels of detail.

It does make sense that the movies have pretty much just focused on the Harry storyline, and that MOST of the cuts to the narrative have been at the expense of supporting characters. A film can't get away with the numerous/extra/insignificant subplots and events that exist in the books. Or at least not all of them.

I keep going back and forth on it, because I miss stuff from the books but at the same time I know that it'd be completely unreasonable to even put half of a 800 page book on screen. Ultimately, I guess the only things that truly bother me are elements of Harry's narrative that get shortened up. I could forgive not learning more about the Marauders or the loss of the many superfluous storylines relating to the Weasleys, the Ministry of Magic, etc. that aren't in the movies. But to take out elements that tie in directly to Harry's character development really hurts the movies.

Look at Harry's love life, for instance. His relationship with Cho is basically reduced to less than 10 minutes of screen time over two movies, and I don't even think he actually shares the screen with Romilda in this movie and it really takes away a lot of the depth of his developing relationship with Ginny. In fact, so little time is devoted to it that when it shows up, it sort of feels obligatory and has that "lightswitch" feel to it that makes it seem so disingenuous. Likewise, not seeing much of the Quidditch/schooling stuff takes away from a different side of Harry that you see much more of in the books. It's always seemed like those cuts are made for money/length reasons and not narrative ones, which is why I've spoken out against them here.

 

[Craig P.]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

But it takes a real nerd to go into a thread marked "spoiler alert" and ask people not to talk about plot spoilers.

I just asked for no spoilers about later books (er, book). Obviously, there will be spoilers for the HBP movie and book and any prior movies and books, and that's fine.

 

[Priceless]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

The LOTR movies were awesome, but so quick-paced it spoiled the book. "I'm 200 pages in and I'm still stuck in the **** Shire!?"

The HP movies touch only portions of the story. I saw the first movie before reading the books, then read the books as quickly as I could because the film whet my appetite. The films aren't meant to tell the story. They're adaptations of the story meant to fit in a certain time frame and sell a lot of tickets/DVDs etc. If people want the in-depth stuff, read the books. There's so much more in the books anyway.

 

[ExileOnDaytonStreet]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

The LOTR movies were awesome, but so quick-paced it spoiled the book. "I'm 200 pages in and I'm still stuck in the **** Shire!?"

The HP movies touch only portions of the story. I saw the first movie before reading the books, then read the books as quickly as I could because the film whet my appetite. The films aren't meant to tell the story. They're adaptations of the story meant to fit in a certain time frame and sell a lot of tickets/DVDs etc. If people want the in-depth stuff, read the books. There's so much more in the books anyway.

I have to admit that some of the LOTR changes were a bit odd, but quite a few of them were so d### logical that you have to wonder why the books weren't written that way.

Getting out of the Shire at a relatively quick pace makes so much more sense than what was in the books that its almost laughable. You have an incredibly dangerous item on you, and there are going to be things hunting you because you have it. You can't just throw it away. So the solution is... wait 20 years before you do anything? What?

 

[Priceless]

Re: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Movie (spoiler alert)

I have to admit that some of the LOTR changes were a bit odd, but quite a few of them were so d### logical that you have to wonder why the books weren't written that way.

Getting out of the Shire at a relatively quick pace makes so much more sense than what was in the books that its almost laughable. You have an incredibly dangerous item on you, and there are going to be things hunting you because you have it. You can't just throw it away. So the solution is... wait 20 years before you do anything? What?

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