Major Character’s Death Altered for ‘Harry Potter Deathly Hallows: Part 2’

For those of you who haven’t read the Harry Potter books and don’t want to be spoiled for the upcoming movie, be forewarned – there are MAJOR SPOILERS ahoy.

As with all of the Harry Potter film adaptations, changes have to be made from page to screen for a variety of reasons: time issues, medium differences, drama maximization, etc. Rarely, however, have the filmmakers altered anything so important as a major character’s death scene. Now, with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, it seems they have, and with the blessing of J.K. Rowling herself.

One last time, for those hard of hearing – there are MAJOR, MAJOR SPOILERS ahead. If you want to go into Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 completely unaware of what’s going to occur onscreen, exit your browser, turn off your monitor, and back away from your computer. Go watch television or something.

For everybody else…

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In the seventh Harry Potter book, Voldemort believes that Snape is the rightful owner of the Elder Wand – a wand he who shall not be named thinks is his only magical means to slay Harry Potter. Because Snape killed Dumbledore in book number six, thus making the wand his, Voldemort believes he must, in turn, kill Snape to once again transfer ownership. As such, he sets Nagini, his giant, evil snake, upon Snape, and voila – no more Severus Snape.

How exactly does the film differ? According to the art director, Andrew Ackland-Snow:

“We wanted to change a bit where Snape dies. In the book, he dies on the Shrieking Shack, and we wanted to get him out from, not a conventional interior, but from that kind of box, to do it in a more dramatic atmosphere. We asked J.K. if she agreed for that to happen in there, because we hadn’t really seen it before. We made a crystal house, and you can see what happens in the boathouse from there – Are you listening Harry? – but also the school is in flames…and she loved it. Besides, it’s a very romantic place to die. Snape dies in a extremely good way, I gotta say.”

I remember after reading the sixth book, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, all anybody ever wanted to talk about was: Did Dumbledore order Snape to kill him, or is Snape actually a bad guy? Then we all had to wait two horrifically long years to learn the truth.

As I waited impatiently, I expected/hoped/prayed that something like 40% of the book would deal with Snape and the ‘good or bad’ plot thread. When 40% instead dealt with Harry, Ron, and Hermione trekking through the woods, and only something like…10% dealt with Snape, I was disappointed. Sure, it was great to learn that Snape was a good guy, but I wanted more. I wanted his death, and the ‘he was good all along!’ reveal, to be more climactic.

What I’m trying to say here is: I’m happy to hear that Snape’s ending has been changed for the big screen, at least in part. Snape is the tragic hero in the story of Harry Potter – he deserves a more fitting end. Perhaps his ending won’t be as drastically different as I hoped, but it’s still good to read things like “he dies in an extremely good way,”

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 hits theaters July 15th, 2011 in (sigh) 3D.

Source: Cine Premiere Mexico [via HPANA]

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‘Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows’ To Air On ABC Family In 2013

For any television viewer who has watched of ABC Family, you know that Harry Potter is very much a part of the network, with marathons of the franchise running multiple times a year. After opening to more than $125 million domestically, ABC Family has acquired the television broadcast rights to the finale two Harry Potter films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and 2.

With this acquisition, ABC Family now has the broadcast rights for the entire Harry Potter film franchise and will be able to run all eight movies back to back. Something that I’m sure will have any Harry Potter fan stupefied with excitement.

Unfortunately, such excitement will be accompanied by a lengthy simmer, as the two Deathly Hallows films are not expected to premiere until 2013. With Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 just now premiering in theaters (read our official Deathly Hallows: Part 1 review), its television broadcast premiere will not be until early to mid 2013. The highly anticipated conclusion, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which is slated for release on July 15, 2011, won’t air on television until Winter 2013.

Considering that Deathly Hallows: Part 1 just had the largest opening for the beloved franchise, one has to wonder what exactly the television rights for such a film might cost. While no specific number has been released, we do have a basis for comparison.

When we previously reported that ABC Family had purchased the broadcast rights for Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland, it was revealed that a movie of that caliber – which opened to $116 million – often fetches around $24 million.

With Harry Potter being a major staple for ABC and the franchise providing more substantial broadcast opportunities and organized broadcasting events (read: marathons) than Alice In Wonderland, one could easily estimate that ABC Family paid anywhere from $60-$80 million combined, for the two films.

While a number such as that might seem a bit outrageous, one has to keep in mind that from the ad-rates that the network will change and the promotion that comes from being the sole network to air such popular films, it’s easily worth it.

The only thing ABC has to worry about is if the Mayan calendar and John Cusack’s filmography are correct and 2012 turns out to be a “rough” year.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and 2 premiers on ABC Family, in 2013

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‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ Spoilers Discussion

While we do have a Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows review where you can leave comments, we’ve set up this as a place where you can discuss Deathly Hallows spoilers (and the ending) without concerns of ruining the movie for folks who haven’t seen it yet.

If you’re posting comments here, assume that anyone in the conversation has seen the movie – if you haven’t seen the movie, we recommend you don’t read the comments here until you have.

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What do you think of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?

Discuss away!

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Harry Potter Casts $24 Million Spell at Midnight Showings

The long awaited quasi-final chapter in the Harry Potter film franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is finally in theaters.

While the film is sure to take in enormous box office dollars this weekend, Deathly Hallows also managed to secure $24 million in midnight release money.

Despite the dedication of all those muggles who braved the long lines, and late hours, the $24 million wasn’t enough to steal the midnight box office release record from the other young-adult fantasy book series-turned film franchise, Twilight. The Twilight Saga: Eclipse previously racked up $30 million in midnight release money – and went on to gross over $300 million domestically.

However, Potter fanatics do have reason to smile, the film’s $1.4 million in midnight IMAX tickets did eclipse the previous record holder, pun intended. The previous midnight IMAX record was $1 million – held by, that’s right, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 should also have little problem burying Eclipse for the long haul – as The Twilight Saga, while certainly a phenomenon, still has significantly less appeal internationally. The prior Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince scored around $300 million domestically – racking up another $632 million internationally for a total take just under $1 billion. By comparison, Twilight: Eclipse also made around $300 million domestically – but only added $390 million from international audiences for a total run around $690 million. Eclipse made less money than its predecessor, New Moon (which scored a $709 million total haul) but don’t mistake that for an indication that Twilight is losing steam – the Harry Potter films have seen similar fluctuations from movie to movie.

It’ll still be interesting to see if Potter fans can secure other box office records with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - as well as Part 2, which arrives July 15, 2011. That said, even if Potter fans come out on top, Twi-hards will still have two more shots at earning records with The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn (Part One), which opens November 18th 2011, as well as (Part Two) scheduled for November 16th 2012.

No matter where you fall in the battle of the fantasy books-turned films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 is set to score big numbers this weekend. Stay tuned to Screen Rant, we’ll have the full box office report on Sunday.

Make sure to check out our own Kofi Outlaw’s review of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1.

Source: THR

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