Final Harry Potter Film(s)

The producers of the final Harry Potter film have announced that it will actually be the final Harry Potter films. They intend to release “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I” in November 2010, with Part II coming in May 2011. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, producer David Heyman claimed “It was born out of purely creative reasons. Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book.” Even if that were true, did it not occur to him to make one really long film, like “Doctor Zhivago” or “Malcolm X”? One suspects extra box office money was the idea.

That is not to say that Mr. Heyman is wrong about the creative difficulties. One pet peeve in these parts is film-makers who think they can improve on writers’ stories by changing them. If that were so, then maybe the film-makers ought to come up with their own damn tales and leave the novelists alone (though, to be fair, the novelists rather like all that lovely royalty money).

And as a producer, it is his job to make as big a profit as he can. That means if he can get people to pay twice for one story, then good for him. He just doesn’t need to insult the viewers’ intelligence at the same time. One might believe that it isn't the money if everyone who paid to see the first film got free admission to the second.

One is reminded, though, of a similar film project done by producer Alexander Salkind and directory Richard Lester, “The Three Musketeers.” The book is quite long (and is the best book ever written) for movie purposes. Until this 1973 film, the story was mangled and tangled by film-makers. This one got it right, and it is a thing of beauty from Charlton Heston’s sinister Richelieu to Oliver Reed’s melancholy Athos, and then there’s Faye Dunaway and Raquel Welch.

But they filmed the whole thing at once and paid the actors once. And then, they released the film as “The Three Musketeers,” which ends with the return of Queen Anne’s diamond studs, and as “The Four Musketeers,” which takes the tale to the execution of Milady and D’Artagnan’s commissioning by the Cardinal. The actors sued and won, but didn’t get as much cash as if they had been paid for two films.

One hopes that young Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson’s lawyers have looked after them regarding proper payment. And yes, one will probably end up paying twice and only minding the fact that Mr. Heyman felt it necessary to pretend his audience was composed of simpletons.

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