Trailer Tuesday: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

It is here. Almost. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final film based on JK Rowling's beloved fantasy series of novels, is being released in November. Or, rather, Part 1 of The Deathly Hallows is releasing. You see, much like upcoming The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - whose filmmakers clearly emulated Warner Bros. in this regard - the final installment in the Harry Potter saga is going to be split into 2 films, released about 6 months apart.


The supposed reasoning for this 2-part approach is that The Deathly Hallows, the book, contains too much action in its 600+ pages to be adapted into a 2-hour movie without massive omissions, that would no doubt anger fans. Of course you could also argue that by making 2 movies, Warner Bros. has found a cunning way to milk the fantasy franchise just a little bit longer, and shake a bit more cash from moviegoers.

While the reality is more likely to be the latter, I'm choosing to throw my support behind the first reason because, frankly, I agree with it. Although there was a good chunk in the middle of the novel where the trio of heroic teenage friends (Harry, Ron and Hermione) just sit in a tent whining and starving, and the reader wishes that they would simply have a mystery-solving brainwave and get on with things, The Deathly Hallows is a very dense text in terms of important, interlinked events. I need to re-read the book before the movie adaptation comes out, but back in 2007 when the novel debuted I remember thinking that adapting it for film would be very challenging. By chopping a single event, the tale's entire plot chain and, by extension, its logic, would break. Evidently, by spreading the story over the running time of 2 films, this fatal flaw can be fixed.

For the record, the decision to split The Deathly Hallows into 2 parts was a serious consideration from as long ago as January 2008, when I first reported it.


Without giving too much away, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is the bleakest installment in the Potter saga. Dark wizard Lord Voldemort (AKA He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) has returned to full strength and he and his followers have seizing control of Britain's wizarding world, transforming it into a paranoid police state filled with detentions, torture and death. In a first for the series, most of the action takes place outside of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardy, as Harry, Ron and Hermione - now without the protection of powerful Professor Dumbledore - must locate and destroy several magical artifacts (Horcruxes) that Voldemort uses to ensure his immortality. At the same time as they perform their task the friends are also permanently on the run from Voldemort's supporters, who are under strict instructions to bring The Boy Who Lived back to their master.

Now of course I should be excited about The Deathly Hallows seeing as it's the culmination of the Potter film series. However, I have to admit my enthusiasm for the movie has been tempered by the previous film in the franchise, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I found to be one of the biggest series disappointments - especially since it followed the highly enjoyable Order of the Phoenix. The Deathly Hallows is made by the exact same team responsible for the dull and disjointed The Half-Blood Prince, but seeing as director David Yates directed both Order of the Phoenix and The Half-Blood Prince, I have to assume that Half-Blood's drop in quality was due to the return of screenwriter Steve Kloves, who wrote all the Harry Potter adaptations with the exception of Order of the Phoenix.

Anyway, due to my dissatisfaction with The Half-Blood Prince, I'm approaching The Deathly Hallows with very moderated expectations. This said, I'm hoping for the best in regards to the final film/s. The Deathly Hallows, the book, was a highly emotional read, with death upon death of important, beloved characters. It deserves to be done justice onscreen. Plus, I'm hoping desperately that we finally get to see Professor McGonagall (my favourite series supporting character) unleash the full potential of her Transfiguration magic in combat.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is opening on 19 November 2010 in the United States, and most of the world from 17 November onwards. Presumably South Africa will be screening the film from around the same time - give or take a few weeks - although no local release date has been announced. Part 2 of The Deathly Hallows will open on 15 July 2011 in North America, and other countries from 13 July. The final Harry Potter film/s will be screened in conventional format, 3D and IMAX 3D. The 3D will be a conversion however, so personally I'll be sticking to good ol' 2D.