Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 film based on the sixth novel by J.K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the Harry Potter film series. David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is returning as director for this film. David Heyman and David Barron are producing the film, and Steve Kloves, though he did not write the fifth film, has returned as screenwriter for this instalment. Filming began on September 24, 2007 and the film is scheduled for a UK and US release on July 17, 2009. Like the previous film, the sixth film will be simultaneously released in regular theatres and IMAX 3-D.

As of July 29, 2008, editing of the movie was complete and studio officials will soon see the finished product. The film has was chosen to be screened at this year's Royal Film Performance on November 17, 2008, but due to the date of release pushed back, it was not shown. On January 2, 2009, the film recieved a PG rating in the USA.

Synopsis
''Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and Wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort's defences and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn't counted on Romilda Vane's chocolates! And then there's Hermione, simmering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

Development
Before David Yates was officially chosen to direct the film, many others had been offered the job, and previous directors had expressed an interest in returning. Alfonso Cuarón, the director of the third film, stated he "would love to have the opportunity" to return. Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell declined a spot to direct the fifth film, and was not approached for this one either. Terry Gilliam was Rowling's personal choice to direct Philosopher's Stone. However, when asked whether he would consider directing a later film, Gilliam said, "Warner Bros. had their chance the first time around, and they blew it."

Yates has retained composer Nicholas Hooper, costume designer Jany Temime, visual effects supervisor Tim Burke, creature and make-up effects designer Nick Dudman, and special effects supervisor John Richardson from the fifth film. Since February 2007, Stuart Craig, the production designer of the first five films as well, has been designing sets, including the cave, and the astronomy tower, where the climax of the film takes place. Academy Award nominated Bruno Delbonnel is the film's cinematographer.

Yates and Heyman have noted that some of the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows may influence the script of the film, and that there will not be as many memories in the film as in the book. Yates noted: "We're making a decision right now to compress those a wee bit, but we've still got some really cool ones." . Steve Kloves, who wrote the first four films, returned for the sixth adaptation. Rowling has read Kloves' script and crossed out a passage in which Dumbledore recalls a past female love, penning in the margin "Dumbledore is gay."

Filming
Filming began on 24 September 2007, with one week of rehearsals, and principal photography ended May 2008. Some sources stated that filming may move from the UK, where all of the previous five films have been shot. This is North Scotland reported filming will take place in New Zealand, due to the "more agreeable economy and climate" and lack of Scottish funding. The Sunday Business Post in Ireland has noted that the film's producers and WB executives have been scouting there, specifically Leinster and Munster because they "believe they have now exhausted possible locations in Britain." They are "particularly keen on Ireland, as the landscape is similar to Britain and will appear similar to the settings of the previous films." The crew also scouted around Cape Wrath in Scotland, for use in the cave scene. Filming is scheduled to return to Glen Coe and Glenfinnan, both locations that have appeared in the previous films, to preserve the continuity of the landscape.

On the weekend of 6 October 2007, the crew shot scenes involving the Hogwarts Express in the misty and dewy environment of Fort William, Scotland. A series of night scenes have been filmed in the village of Lacock and the cloisters at Lacock Abbey for three nights starting 25 October 2007. Filming took place from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily, and residents of the street were asked to black out their windows with dark blinds. On set reports indicated that the main scene filmed was Harry and Dumbledore's visit to Slughorn's house. Further filming took place in Surbiton railway station in October 2007, Gloucester Cathedral, where the first and second films were shot, in February 2008, and at the Millennium Bridge in London in March 2008.

Though Radcliffe, Gambon and Broadbent started shooting in late September 2007, some other cast members started much later: Watson did not begin until December 2007, Rickman until January 2008, and Bonham Carter until February 2008. Principal photography wrapped up on May 17 2008. And a confirmation that editing was complete was released on July 29, 2008, though we do not know when they finished exactly.

On January 6th, 2008, websites reported that the movie had been rated "PG" by the MPAA, for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality. This is the first time since the third movie that a Harry Potter film has been rated PG.

Cast

 * Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, who is now entering his sixth year at Hogwarts, with the wizarding world at war.


 * Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, one of Harry's two best friends. He develops a relationship with Lavender Brown.


 * Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, one of Harry's two best friends. Watson considered not returning for the sixth film, but eventually decided that "the pluses outweighed the minuses" and could not bear to see anyone else play Hermione.


 * Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore. The legendary wizard and headmaster of Hogwarts.  The revelation of Dumbledore's sexuality prompted Gambon to "camp up" around the set when off camera, but his on-screen performance is expected to remain unchanged from the previous films.


 * Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn, the newly appointed Hogwarts Potions master. Broadbent described his costumes as "tweedy", and his character as "comic", while Radcliffe noted that "[Slughorn's] tragedy will outweigh the comedy".


 * Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, the former Potions master, who finally achieves his goal of becoming Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.


 * Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, a classmate of Harry, who Harry suspects of carrying out a task for Voldemort across the year, and son of Narcissa Malfoy and nephew to Bellatrix. Unknown actor Tony Coburn will play Lucius Malfoy in a Hogwarts flashback.


 * Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister in her fifth year, for whom Harry develops intense romantic feelings. Her feelings for Harry never changed and they finally become a couple right after the final quidditch match.


 * Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, a friend of Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny.


 * Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, a friend of Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny.


 * Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher.


 * Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, the Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor.


 * David Thewlis as Remus Lupin, a member of the Order of the Phoenix and former Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.


 * Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks, a member of the Order of the Phoenix.


 * Helen McCrory as Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother and younger sister of Bellatrix. McCrory was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange in Order of the Phoenix, but had to drop out due to pregnancy.  Naomi Watts was previously reported as having accepted the role, only for it to be denied by her agency.


 * Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, one of Voldemort's principal Death Eaters, older sister of Narcissa Malfoy, and aunt to Draco, cousin of Sirius Black.


 * Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew, one of Voldemort's principal Death Eaters.


 * Mark Williams and Julie Walters as Arthur and Molly Weasley, Ron and Ginny's parents.


 * James Phelps and Oliver Phelps as Fred Weasley and George Weasley


 * Jessie Cave as Lavender Brown, Ron's girlfriend. Watson described her as "perfect for the role," although Cave did not attend the open auditions. An open casting call was held for the part on 1 July, 2007. Over 7,000 girls turned out for the audition and read from a scene with Madam Pomfrey, Hermione, and Ron.  Yates tested Grint with the top five choices for Lavender, reading certain lines and kissing, to see which pairing had the best chemistry.


 * Hero Fiennes-Tiffin and Frank Dillane will each play Tom Marvolo Riddle, the child who becomes Lord Voldemort, at age eleven and as a teenager respectively. Tiffin is the 9-year-old nephew of Ralph Fiennes, who plays the adult Voldemort in the fourth and fifth films.  Yates commented at the U.S. Order of the Phoenix premiere, that one of the two actors was "really interesting."  An open casting call was held for the part in July 2007, with applicants reading from a scene involving Riddle trying to persuade Horace Slughorn to explain what Horcruxes are.  Christian Coulson, who played Riddle in Chamber of Secrets, expressed an interest in returning.  However, Yates responded that Coulson was too old, nearing 30, to be playing the role.  Jamie Campbell Bower, who appeared in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, previously noted that he had his "fingers crossed" he would be cast as a young Riddle.

Additionally, Warwick Davis and David Bradley will reprise their respective roles as Charms teacher Filius Flitwick and caretaker Argus Filch. Georgina Leonidas will play Katie Bell, the Gryffindor Chaser who is injured by a cursed necklace. Anna Shaffer will be portraying Romilda Vane, a student obsessed with Harry; she tries to make him fall in love with her by using love potions. Websites of UK casting agencies reported that Scarlett Byrne will play Pansy Parkinson. Katie Leung will also return as Cho Chang in a very brief role. Two 11-year-old children, Taylor Triphook and Katie Head, who have been noted to be redheads, will play twins in the film, roles not culled from the novel. 12-year-old Ashley Whitehead has been cast as an orphan in the film, while Louis Cordice will play Blaise Zabini. Freddie Stroma, Isabella Laughland, and Robert Knox will play, respectively, Cormac McLaggen, Katie Bell's friend Leanne and Marcus Belby. Knox was stabbed to death on 24 May 2008, before the film was released. Ralph Ineson will play Amycus Carrow, Suzanne Toase will play Alecto Carrow, and Dave Legeno will play Fenrir Greyback. Tom Moorcroft will portray Regulus Black, and Sanguini, the vampire at Slughorn's party will be played by Charlie Bennison. Tony Coburn will play a young Lucius Malfoy. Also the two actors Lord John Paul Castrianni and Rod Hunt are part of the new cast, they play Death Eaters Yaxley and Thorfinn Rowle.

There is a strong possibility that Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw will return as the Dursleys. Afshan Azad and Shefali Chowdhury have expressed interest in returning as the Patil twins. Both Clémence Poésy and Chris Rankin are interested in returning, but in October 2007 Poésy noted that she will not be reprising her role of Fleur Delacour, and Rankin has stated that he thinks Percy Weasley will be cut. Miriam Margolyes, who has not appeared in her role as Pomona Sprout since Chamber of Secrets, wishes to return as well.It has been confirmed that she will be returning for The Deathly Hallows. After Bill Nighy expressed an interest in appearing, Yates confirmed that Nighy would be his first choice for the role of Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour, providing the character made it into the final screenplay. Although no further reports have been released, Yates told Wizard that he was "struggling with [fitting Scrimgeour in the script] at the moment, and he's in one moment and he's out the next." Madonna's daughter Lourdes was reportedly offered a role in the film, although it was rejected as Madonna wants her daughter to "have a normal childhood."

Early auditions took place in England in April 2007, though reports would not state which role the audition was for. One actor who auditioned for the role was Icelandic Jón Páll Eyjólfsson, who went to school with screenwriter Steve Kloves. Official casting news was scarce even as filming began. It was reported that Jack Davenport, Stephen Rea, Peter Rnic, Stuart Townsend, and Joseph Fiennes were each offered unspecified roles, although representatives of Townsend and Fiennes denied the reports. Warner Bros. announced in a press release on 16 November 2007 that casting for the film had been completed.

Marketing
The special edition two-disc DVD for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix contained two sneak peeks of the film, while the US edition included an additional clip. Warner Bros and MSN will run an online Order of the Phoenix quiz, with the prize being a walk-on part in the film. As with the previous films, EA Games will produce a video game based on the film. The teaser trailer for the sixth video game was released along side of its website on July 2, 2008.

Trailers
There have been four trailers released for the film. The first one was a 15-second teaser trailer, with just 1 sentence from Dumbledore. It can be viewed here.

Teaser Trailer
The Teaser Trailer was released on July 29, 2008 on AOL, and later released with The Mummy 3, on August 1, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, on August 6, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars on August 15, 2008. It can be viewed here. Many new pictures and clips were released. The trailer basically revolves around young Tom Riddle at the Orphanage, but Dumbledore fighting the Inferi, Ginny, Ron on the ground, memories, and much more. This is the first trailer without Hermione.

International Teaser Trailer
The International Teaser Trailer was leaked onto the internet on October 26, 2008 and it can be viewed here. The music at the end is With an Iron Fist by Immediate Music.

New Trailer: 14/11/08
A new trailer was released on the Internet, containing scenes of the Horcrux Cave, the Battle of The Astronomy Tower, and the destruction of the Brockdale Bridge by the Death Eaters. The trailer was released theatrically alongside Twilight. It can be seen here.

Trailer for Japan release: 01/23/09
A new trailer that was first reportedly at the Pottermania.jp last January 18, 2009 appears to be a brand new trailer for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We can see several new scenes like Harry and Slughorn enjoying a party, Harry and Dumbledore in the cave, Bellatrix enjoys attacking Hagrid's Hut, Fenrir Greyback attack someone and Snape on the Astronomy tower with Harry. It can be viewed here.

Scene By Scene
Like all of the other Harry Potter movies, many things will be cut and changed. This is a list, last updated December 18, 2008, of known, confirmed, and factual information. To see the full list, click the link that follows.

1. The Other Minister
- We will see the Brockdale Bridge collapse as part of a ‘big attack’.



- From Mugglenet:


 * Filming is for the bridge collapsing scene.
 * About 60 crew members and 120 extras.
 * Stuntmen will be falling into the river.
 * Bridge was being filmed with helicopter, on foot, and mounted camera crane.
 * Crews were only allowed to film every half hour to allow public on bridge.
 * More location shoots will be taking place in London.

- Yates has mentioned in an interview that he is trying to fit Scrimgeour into the script, that he is in one day and out the next. He has stated if he does have Scrimgeour he will most likely be played by Bill Nighy.

- There is also a rumor that Yates now wants Scrimgeour to be a Suprise for the fans and that Bill Nighy has asked to be uncredited

- Actress Teresa Mahoney will be playing a new character who did not appear in the book, Sofie (Boardroom -Opening Scene).” While we had heard rumors that the opening scene with the Other Minister was to be cut, we are uncertain as to what this may mean

2. Spinner’s End
- Yates has commented about how great it is going to be to work with Kloves on Snape's ambiguity in the script.

- Alan Rickman has been re-cast as Severus Snape. He has commented that he refuses to talk about his character because he would not want to spoil the story.

- The scene in the movie has been moved to after Harry arrives at the Burrow

- Timothy Spall has been re-cast as Peter Pettigrew and will appear in the scene.

- Helen McCrory has been cast as Narcissa Malfoy

- Helena Bonham Carter has been re-cast as Bellatrix Lestrange.

3. Will and Won't
- Richard Griffiths who plays Uncle Vernon in the films was confirmed that he is cut from HBP but now is credited on IMDB

- However, Fiona Shaw (Petunia Dursley) is credited to be in HBP on IMDB.

- This seems to give credibility to comments made by an “inside source” on TLC:

"The second scene in the current cut has only Petunia, Harry & Dumbledore. Harry Melling did film some takes, but his character is, for now, off-screen. We’re also going to get a slightly “lengthier” (more explanation of past) scene between the three of ‘em. (as of now). The first scene is at Spinner’s End. Can’t say whether any part/element of The Other Minister will be in. The titling work is still ways off, considering the number of key frames still being rendered at Double Negative. And we must keep some things quiet, for suspense, eh?"

- No word about Kreacher but they are making a HBP toy line where Kreacher is one of the characters to be made into a doll and even says a line that might be from HBP: "Mistress is happy the scum has finally left her house." So he might be in the film.

- Dumbledore's withered hand has been confirmed. J.K. Rowling got chills when she saw Gambon with the green screen glove on. The hand appeared in one of the trailers.

4. Horace Slughorn
- Jim Broadbent has been cast as Horace Slughorn. He has only read the sixth book in preparation for his role as the new potions master.

- The scenes at and inside Slughorn's house have all already been filmed. They have recreated the entire village of Budliegh Babberton from the book including the old war memorial. There is a pub called: Babberton Arms in the background.

-Gambon has been camping it up on set and word got out that they filmed Dumbledore saying the "I do love knitting patterns' line.

- Nina Voelker, who was cast in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, explains what significance her original character, Wendy Slinkhard, plays in the film:

"Only a very small role, Wendy Slinkhard is a former student of Professor Slughorn's and is now a published author, so I was in a picture with Professor Slughorn, played by Jim Broadbent, which I will dedicate in my book. This picture might be in Slughorn's house."

- Slughorn will shout "Alright! Alright" I'll take the job!" as Harry and Dumbledore leave his house like in the book.

- Yates said there was a comical scene where someone goes to draw the drapes and the entire curtain falls. This might be part of the scene in Slughorn's house.

- Regulus Black has been cast and will appear in a picture in Slughorn's house or office

- Slughorn’s Home was featured on the Sneak Peek

Other mistakes about Slughorn is that in his potions class, there were many students such as Dean and Lavander. They should not have been there. In the books, they either did not obtain an O/E in their Potions O.W.L or they decided not to take potions. This can be confirmed through pictures from the sneak peeks.

5. An Excess of Phlegm
- Fleur Delacour has been cut. It can be assumed also that Bill Weasley has been cut too.

- The Burrow is confirmed as in the movie.

- Julie Walters has been re-cast as Molly Weasley and Mark Williams has been re-cast as Arthur Weasley.

- A scene in Ron's bedroom has been filmed and a picture of this scene has been leaked.

- A picture of Harry and Ginny (hugging) has emerged online. It is most likely to take place when Harry arrives at the Burrow.

6. Draco's Detour
- We have received some info about these scenes from a fan set report:

- Diagon Alley will be seen again and Ollivander's has been destroyed:

"We walked around Diagon Alley. Ollivanders had been destroyed, all the windows were smashed and it was trashed. The shops had complete interiors in case the camera caught a glimpse inside by accident. Quality Quidditch supplies had a Quidditch equipment display, uniforms on dummies and drawers full of clothing. Florean Fortescue's had fake ice cream sundaes lining the walls on shelves. Florish and Blotts had hundreds of books inside the doorway piled up and on shelves. The large books in the windows are actually Watford phone directories covered!"

- WWW Joke Shop is in the Movie:

"But WWW stood out in bright orange with a curved front door. It was the most wonderful place. It was like every dream you had as a kid. There were skiving snack boxes, puking pastels, U-no-poo, sweets from floor to ceiling. It had a set of stairs winding up the middle and was three floors high. The detail was amazing; the shelves were crooked with brightly coloured goods on every surface. It was truly breath taking. At the end of our tour we watched them filming a scene there. When you see the scene where Fred and George are talking to Ron on the stairs, he asks how much for an item, they say '5 galleons', Ron says 'but I'm your brother' and they say '10 galleons'. Well I am standing behind the stairs (out of sight) by the door! It took eight takes just for that few seconds and I was told they only complete 2 minutes of film a day"

- Borgin & Burke's will be in the film and there will be WANTED Posters of Bellatrix and the Carrows in Knockturn Alley:

"We saw Knockturn Alley but the lights weren't on so it was by torch light! Saw Borgin and Burkes that way. The vanishing cabinet was in the centre, it was dark wood with a slanted roof. There were lots of skulls and creepy looking objects – even creepier due to the lack of lighting. There were wanted posters on the alley walls for Bellatrix and the Carrows."

- Draco will not go to the shop alone, he will be with his mother and Fenrir Greyback

7. The Slug Club
From the test screenings, it was noted the Hogwarts Express felt different. Apparently the Hogwarts Express seems a little different somehow. In a good way, and not like continuity is ruined, but it apparently has a different feel to it. Shots of the Hogwarts train travelling to Hogwarts have been filmed.

Test screening viewers have stated the first Slug Club meeting has been moved from the train.

The international trailer has confirmed the scene where Harry is spying on the Slytherins in their compartment under the cloak and then where Draco freezes Harry on the train and covers him with his cloak is confirmed.

8. Snape Victorious

 * Luna Lovegood will replace Nymphadora Tonks’ role of saving Harry from the train.
 * Luna uses her Spectrespecs to find Harry and save him herself.

9. The House of Gaunt

 * The Gaunt scene seems to be cut as Yates recently said that they have only “2 or 3 memories”


 * In the books, the memories were a very big part of JK Rowling's story. We've actually pared them down in our story, and she was very supportive of that decision. They're such an enjoyable part of reading the Half-Blood Prince. But we've kind of distilled them down to two or three memories to try to keep everything more in the moment. Flashbacks in movies are tricky things; they tend to hold up the momentum of the story you're telling.


 * Test screening viewers confirm that the Gaunts are cut and that the “2 or 3” memories are the orphanage and the fake and real horcrux memories.

10. Elf Tails

 * The Quidditch scene from this chapter has been confirmed cut


 * The house elves have been confirmed cut from the film, according to test screening viewers.

11. Sectumsempra

 * Moaning Myrtle is cut.

12. The Lightning Struck Tower

 * A change in Harry’s (and Dumbledore’s) actions has occurred, according to test screening viewers


 * Harry is not frozen by Dumbledore and is on the floor below the top of the astronomy tower looking up through floorboards at the events.


 * Scenes with Bill Weasley attacked by Fenrir Greyback has been cut, and so much the character Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour is cut in the entire movie.

13. The Seer Overheard

 * Emma Thompson is not returning as Professor Trelawney.

14. The White Tomb
This scene has been confirmed to be in the film.

Awards
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince won the 2007 Movies.com award for film you "Can't Wait For".