Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - The Movie [ Edited ]

[Psychee]

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ConnieK wrote:
It's a given that numbers of movie tickets sold, alas, will outstrip books in almost any demographic you can name. The movie ticket sales will include tix for each member of a family who goes, too, whereas many families will share just one copy of the book. The numbers of tix sold vs. books don't and won't equate for many reasons. I guess I'm not saying the movie will "suffer" because of the book coming out by any means; it just seems to me that there is much more media attention, promotion, and general interest going on about the book rather than _The Order of the Phoenix_ movie. Maybe I'm just not seeing it. (I don't watch much network TV).

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If you don't watch much network TV, you would definitely miss the hype for the movie. There are something like 7-9 different TV commercials, often seen during breaks of other Harry Potter films and similar fantasy movies on TV. They have been selling advance tickets to the movie online since mid-May in some places.

The new Order of The Phoenix videogame is also coming out at this same time. The graphics look superb and all the kids around here want that, too!

Message Edited by Psychee on 07-08-2007 01:33 PM

[Nadine]

I think the release time of the movie might be calculated to take advantage of the Harry Potter fever that is building. The movie comes out ten days before the book, and from the postings I've seen on these forums, a lot of people are planning on seeing the movie before the book is released and some that evening while they are waiting for midnight to come around. How many more times can you reread the books before the final book comes out?

Once the book is out, you won't find a reader in the theater, but there are other people who might be attracted to the idea of watching the move about Harry Potter just to see what all the hype is about.

I also expect there might have been some planning to release the movie and get more people interested in reading the book. Kind of a double whammy. There are still a few people in the world who haven't read any Harry Potter books yet! Starting next week, I expect Harry Potter to be everywhere. And as predicted in Chapter one of Book one, there won't be anyone in the world who hasn't heard of Harry Potter. If you don't read the book, you have to at least see the film.

Of course, the staying power of the film might depend on the reviews. Does anyone know if there have been any pre-release reviews of the movie, or do they keep the movies under wraps as well?

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ConnieK wrote:
Readers: Do you think this movie is getting overshadowed by the last book coming out shortly afterwards? I'm wondering if people will just go to the movie to help wait out the next few days for the book. Someone once asked me why they didn't push this movie release back to around the holidays in 2007 so the movie and book wouldn't compete with each other. I wasn't sure if I'd heard the reason why they kept the movie release for the summer--I just figured they had the movie finished, so they weren't going to wait. My guess was that the timing of the movie and book releases were made pretty independently of one another, except maybe to make sure they werent the exact same weekend when it became clear that the last book would come out the same month. Did anyone hear or read a Warner Bros. statement on the reason for this timing?

~ConnieK, "3 days to wait for the movie; 13 for the book"

Message Edited by ConnieK on 07-07-2007 02:24 PM

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[Proper-T]

Don't worry Connie, TV/Rdaio major with a Film minor here to shed some light on the situation... I hope.

Movie release dates are thought of before movies even go into production. For the perfect examples we know HBP is due Mid November 2008 and shooting for it doesn't start until next month. And we already know th DH movie is due for 2010. The date the movie is being released is part of the budget you come up with, when presentig it to studios's.

Now if you notice (I don't know about the first two films because I saw those on DVD) POA was released in the summer, GOF towards Chrsitmas, OOTP in the summer, and HBP is due for near Christmas. Those are the times of the year when people go to the movies the most. Some films will be done way before their release dates but won't be put out till those times of the year just so they have a better chance of being seen.

As for the movie being so close together with the book release, while we've known the date for the movie release since as early as the GoF release, JK rowling just finshed the book... so it's not exectly Warner Brother's or Scholastic's fault that everything is so close together it just happened that way.

And this is just my own personal opinion now, but I suspect... as good as Harry has been to JK, I think she wouldn't mind not having to worry about book sales and the like before her birthday arrives on the 31st of July. But would still like to be feeling good about Harry when it passes, so the date we got makes sense. It's still more than a week before her birthday, so Harry will officially be done. But she'll have done all the interviews, and had enough time to get through all the feedback to keep her in a happy mood... again just my opinion on it, though.

Message Edited by Proper-T on 07-08-2007 05:56 PM

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Thanks, Proper-T! So, would it likely cost WB money to wait until a Christmas release now, after budgeting for the film to come out summer, 2007? I had a feeling these releases may have just been decided independently of one another, except maybe to be sure they didn't overlap on the exact same weekend. It just seems like the movie would get more attention later in the year, or more excitement, or something but then, as Psychee says, I might be missing some of the promotional stuff about the film just from the routes I travel. I'd say the Internet is definitely more tilted toward news about the book--or maybe that's again just my own skewed travels on the virtual 'superhighway' that lead me toward more book news than movie news! Ha.

~ConnieK, "12 days"

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Proper-T wrote:
Don't worry Connie, TV/Rdaio major with a Film minor here to shed some light on the situation... I hope.

Movie release dates are thought of before movies even go into production. For the perfect examples we know HBP is due Mid November 2008 and shooting for it doesn't start until next month. And we already know th DH movie is due for 2010. The date the movie is being released is part of the budget you come up with, when presentig it to studios's.

Now if you notice (I don't know about the first two films because I saw those on DVD) POA was released in the summer, GOF towards Chrsitmas, OOTP in the summer, and HBP is due for near Christmas. Those are the times of the year when people go to the movies the most. Some films will be done way before their release dates but won't be put out till those times of the year just so they have a better chance of being seen.

As for the movie being so close together with the book release, while we've known the date for the movie release since as early as the GoF release, JK rowling just finshed the book... so it's not exectly Warner Brother's or Scholastic's fault that everything is so close together it just happened that way.

And this is just my own personal opinion now, but I suspect... as good as Harry has been to JK, I think she wouldn't mind not having to worry about book sales and the like before her birthday arrives on the 31st of July. But would still like to be feeling good about Harry when it passes, so the date we got makes sense. It's still more than a week before her birthday, so Harry will officially be done. But she'll have done all the interviews, and had enough time to get through all the feedback to keep her in a happy mood... again just my opinion on it, though.

Message Edited by Proper-T on 07-08-2007 05:56 PM

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[Psychee]

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ConnieK wrote:
Thanks, Proper-T! So, would it likely cost WB money to wait until a Christmas release now, after budgeting for the film to come out summer, 2007?

Connie, remember that to make a movie a huge capital investment must be made. There are loans that need to be paid off. They don't begin to get money in until they start selling their product to others and they need that capital coming in to get on with the next film.

But there are other considerations. There are all the little franchise companies that depend on the movie coming out at a certain time. Millions of T-shirts waiting for customers to buy them. Toys, collectibles, posters, etc. There is the video game which is coming out in five or more different formats which simply cannot sit on the shelf because of the ever-changing technology. There is the soundtrack. And all those commercial spots which were purchased six months in advance.

The movie is a global thing -- it will be released in every language across the globe at roughly the same time and all the stuff associated with it (e.g. toys, music, video game) will be sold across the globe.

The book is only being sold in the English language right now.

You mentioned that you haven't seen much in the way of internet advertising for the movie. Have you been here yet? http://joindumbledoresarmy.warnerbros.com/

[ConnieAnnKirk]

I guess you just can't stop a moving train, Psychee, or delay it for 6 months. Thanks for the link to the DA page. No; I don't often visit the WB sites. For one thing, I'm one of those for whom a movie gets spoiled if I see too many clips or trailers, and I guess I'm not that into the games, etc.

More news on OP, though: They had the premiere in LA today, and tomorrow, I believe, the trio of main actors is going to imprint each a foot, hand, and _wand_ into the cement sidewalk of Grauman's Chinese Theater--a nice souvenir of the movies' legacy to leave in the U.S. for American fans and visitors, I think.

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Psychee wrote, in part:
Connie, remember that to make a movie a huge capital investment must be made.

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Message Edited by ConnieK on 07-08-2007 09:58 PM

[Nadine]

Well the reviews are coming out. Here is a link with headliners and excerpts to a lot of them. There might be spoilers.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6284222.stm

[ConnieAnnKirk]

Dear Readers & Film-goers:

I just watched the online clip of the "cementing" ceremony of Daniel, Rupert, and Emma at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood today. What fun! You can see it, too, at the link below. It runs about 14 minutes. You can tell the young actors realized that this was one way that they were marking their place in movie history! Whatever you think of their acting now or in the future, I think no one can deny the distinction these 3 actors will have achieved of literally growing up on screen through the 7 Harry Potter movies. I hope you enjoy the clip even 1/2 as much as I did!

http://www.hpana.com/news.20080.html

~ConnieK, 11 days

[Proper-T]

Thanx for the link Connie. It was Brilliant seeing them. Excuse my sudden fan girl moment but... Rupert's smile is to die for I love him... to be fair I did say to excuse it.

I hope I'm famous enough for something like that one day... I'd ask them if they could put mines next to their's.

[Madelia]

I'm going to the midnight movie tonight, I'm soooooo excited. Work is going by WAY too slow today!!!

[APenForYourTho…]

I'm going to the midnight showing as well! I'm extremely excited; I keep shouting out the number of hours left at random intervals, much to the chagrin of the rest of my family. My brother and I are going to watch all of the Harry Potter movies this afternoon, just so we don't go crazy waiting. I've never actually been to a midnight opening; it should be very interesting.

[agnijay]

Thank god HBP is coming out in November...the first movie did to, and I had my 7th birthday party there, (my birthday is November 20th) and I haven's had an HP b-day since! WHat scenes are you all looking forward to?


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Movie's out tomorrow and I'm seeing it...yay!

[Psychee]

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agnijay wrote:
Thank god HBP is coming out in November...the first movie did to, and I had my 7th birthday party there, (my birthday is November 20th) and I haven's had an HP b-day since! WHat scenes are you all looking forward to?


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Movie's out tomorrow and I'm seeing it...yay!

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I'm looking forward to the Dumbledore moments -- I'm praying they do it right -- Dumbledore disappearing out of his office via Fawkes; Dumbledore dueling with Voldemort...

[hermionesnape]

i've already seen OOTP... (myspace preview)

won't go and spoil anything, but i did come up with a theory:
if you read the book and then see the movie, you'll more than likely be dissapointed.
if you just watch the movies without reading the books, you'll love the movie.

it's got some beautiful scenes. lots of plot holes.

[midnite_writer]

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hermionesnape wrote:
i've already seen OOTP... (myspace preview)

won't go and spoil anything, but i did come up with a theory:
if you read the book and then see the movie, you'll more than likely be dissapointed.
if you just watch the movies without reading the books, you'll love the movie.

it's got some beautiful scenes. lots of plot holes.

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You are so right!

I just got home from seing the midnight viewing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They left out sooooooooooo much. Don't get me wrong I thought the movie was okay...I liked some parts of it. But I am really really critical, as some of you can probably tell. If anyone agrees with me please speak up. I hope I'm not alone.

[APenForYourTho…]

Once again, the book is far better than the movie. The movie was good, still, but they left some stuff out and altered some of the scenes. Pensieve scene: very disappointing. I won't say anything else about it, because I know not everyone's seen it, but -- maddening.

[Erind]

***Slight Spoilers but you've read the book anyway so who cares***



I just got back from the Theater and I must admit I was disappointed at some of the things they left out. I was still very pleased with the movie and I think that they did an excellent job with it. Sirius calling him James nearly brought a tear to my eye. I also like the use of non verbal spells even though none of them can actually do it yet. It would have been ridiculous to be watching the movie and try to hear through that many people yelling at each other. And oh my, Tonks was brilliant! I really like the whole black smoke vs. white smoke thing. And the DD vs VD fight was extremely good. While watching you could really tell that this was the two greatest wizards ever fighting each other. My only complaint from that scene, what Harry said to fight off VD was a bit on the cheesy side, but they got the point across which was good. Sorry if this spoils anything for anyone but to be honest, we have all read the book about 10 times so I can't really tell you anything you don't already know.

P.S. The casting was awesome, I loved everyone from Luna to Tonks. Kingsley was quite funny as well.

[Proper-T]

Spoiler Warning... but really you're in the movie thread and the movie is out...

Another Midnight viewer just getting home and I agree with you... I liked the movie, loved it really, but it was too rushed. Is it me or did they rush through the first 150 pages of the book in like 20 minutes or less???

And I edit film, it's part of my soon to be career, thw way things were just strung together, one minute they're here (flying to the Ministry) the next minute they're there (walking through the Department of Mysteries) I went with my friends kids, and they aren't book people yet, so it was like 'what just hapened?'

But on the good side, I laughed the most this film... the scene after Harry's kiss, was Hilarious. And though Sirius's final scene wasn't as sad as I though it would be, the MoM scene with Harry trying to hold off Voldy was defintely moving...

The Black Family Tree... way better than I imagined it. Grawp was cute... I'm not sure how I feel about that, but there you have it. The BEST LINE was when Harry watched the Centaurs take Umbridge...

One last thing, was anyone else spooked at first at Dumbridge's breaking the wall... won't say much more, but that sound seriuously made me think... 'did I miss something?'

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midnite_writer wrote:
You are so right!

I just got home from seing the midnight viewing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They left out sooooooooooo much. Don't get me wrong I thought the movie was okay...I liked some parts of it. But I am really really critical, as some of you can probably tell. If anyone agrees with me please speak up. I hope I'm not alone.

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Message Edited by Proper-T on 07-11-2007 04:17 AM

[Madelia]

Yeah I wanted it to be longer too!
I thought it was kind of cool when they would flash pages of the Prophet by with headlines on things that were happening...a nice way to keep audiences updated on things they may have otherwise left out in the movies and no one would know about if they had either never read the book or if it's been awhile. It was nice for me, because even though I know the entire story, there were so many things I kept forgetting... so it was nice for once to have a movie that refreshes your memory more than screws with it!

[princesspotter]

Proper-T, I couldn't have agreed with you more.

This movie was so rushed and all over the place. Even I found it confusing with trying to follow the movie with the book.

Start with DD's "Remember my last" wasn't even in there.
What was up with Aunt Petunia's short short dress??
I completely missed the tidbit that explained Harry was to go to trial for using the Patronus Charm.
Sirius's mom didnt yell like crazy per the book.
Hermione was talking way too fast for this movie.
Harry never saw LV at the train station.
Did you notice the trip to Hogwarts lasted like 10 seconds?
The Dementors have apparently been upgraded.. They looked disgusting.
As well as Sirius in the Fire didn't match the GOF.
Why in the movie did Professor McGonagall bow down to Umbridge when she never did so in the book. I didn't like that.
I would have liked a better Umbridge. Someone toadlike as the book described.
Cho did not rat out the DA.
And the movie had no background on Grawp. He just appeared and Hermione just knew his name and told him thank you..??? What???
There were no Quidditch matches. What is Hogwarts without a Quidditch match? (of course GOF didn't have it. But there was a tournament)
The MOM was such a detailed part, I couldn't believe how they chopped it in half. It was like.. Ok... Kill Sirius, hear the prophecy, DD fight LV and the end.

I did, however, loved the visual effects, the flight thru Britain to Grimauld place, the way Sirius's home appeared was good, The entry to MOM was better than I visualized.
DA lessons were fast-paced... But neat. Loved the DD VS LV fight. it was awesome. LV taking over Harrys body in the end was long winded and unnecessary.

But had I not read the book.. I may just have enjoyed the movie more instead of sitting there critiquing it.
But I love Harry, so I'll see it a million times over. And over.. And over..

Message Edited by princesspotter on 07-11-2007 10:02 AM