Good news for Potter fans, and bad news for anyone who felt like the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, needed a good bit of pruning in the middle section. The seventh book in the mega-successful series is to be split into two films, filmed back-to-back and released six months apart. And David Yates is going to be back to direct.
Ever since the third film there have been rumours that the next story would have to be split in two, but so far they've all been cut down to fit the screen (and, in most cases, benefitted enormously from the trims). But with reams of exposition set out in the last book, and much to-ing and fro-ing around forests, perhaps there's a better case for the split this time.
If we had to guess (and there's been no announcement on where the divide will be) we'd guess it's when Ron...you know, thingy. In the pool in the woods. No spoilers here. That is, after all, something of a narrative turning point, comes about halfway through and would leave us with a storming Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two, even if Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One would be left a little action-light. But then, as with all the books, the really dramatic scenes are heavily loaded towards the back of the book, so if you only see one Harry Potter film in 2010 and 2011, make sure it's Part Two.
David Yates, who directed Order of the Phoenix and is currently working on The Half-Blood Prince, will stay aboard for the last two films, and Steve Kloves, who adapted all the books except for Phoenix, is back to write the scripts. The films will be released in November 2010 and May 2011, and if you can't wait that long, tough. You're going to have to make do with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is due out this November.