In a shock move, Warner Bros has shifted the release of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" to next summer. Although attributing much of the blame to the fallout from the WGA strike, Warners president Alan Horn also indicated that there were commercial reasons for the move, stating that it 'perfectly fills the gap for a major tentpole release for midsummer'.
Analysts have explained that the move is an attempt to avoid weighting the fourth quarter with heavy marketing costs, as the Warner coffers are already suitably swollen by the success of "The Dark Knight". Indeed, it is now likely that the Batman sequel will be pushed back into cinemas to coincide with the DVD release in December.
"Half-Blood" director David Yates has apparently completed post-production on the film already and as yet there are no whisperings of reshoots or major problems. This suggests that the decision is based purely on a desire to replicate the success of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" in the summer of 2007 and to cash in on the lucrative Christmas DVD market a few months later.