Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Harry Potter Delayed for IMAX


According to Forbes, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" will only debut in two IMAX theaters on its scheduled July 14 release date: one in New York City, the other in Los Angeles. Unless you live in either of those places you will have an additional two-week wait before you catch "Harry Potter" on the big, big, screen.

The delay is because Imax is obligated to show the action film "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" exclusively for five weeks this summer under a deal with Paramount Pictures. Imax inked that deal before Warner Bros. delayed "Harry Potter" to July 2009 from November 2008.

Such a delay could put a dent Warner Bros.' box office revenues, because consumers may opt to see the film on regular screens before it becomes available on Imax screens.

This is like a form of karma because Warner Bros. moved "Harry Potter" to the summer hoping to earn more money but instead will face what they orignally feared: less profits.

Make no mistake: this is a significant blow to Warner Bros. Both "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and "Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen" offer fans exclusive content that is only be available on the IMAX prints. For "Transformers 2," that content comes in the form of several sequences that were shot in hi-resolution “true IMAX”; for "Half-Blood Prince," twelve minutes of 3-D footage. This kind of exclusive content provides great incentive for moviegoers to shell out extra money to see a film in IMAX.

The only question now is, will you wait two extra weeks and/or shell out additional cash to see "Half-Blood Prince" in IMAX?
More news to come! Catch ya' later!
Sources: Forbes, Screen Rant

No comments: