Harry Potter 7: Parts I and II

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" isn't even out yet and fans are getting excited for the final installment of the franchise. But the last book, possible the richest in detail of them all, will have a grand final send-off in the movies by being split in half.

"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part I" (Nov. 19, 2010) and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part II" (July 15, 2011).

Empire recently had the chance to talk to Daniel Radcliffe and franchise producer David Heyman. Empire asked them about the split between the planned two parts of Deathly Hallows.

"We've played around with a couple of places," said Heyman, "and ultimately settled on a place that we think is very exciting, and I think quite bold, in that it's not necessarily where one might expect. You want to give a sense of completion, on one hand, but a sense that there's another piece, more to come. We tried one and then Steve (Kloves, screenwriter) came up with the idea to try it another way and when we tried that, it felt just right."

Daniel Radcliffe added that the split is "at a very tense cliffhanger", which may be a bigger clue for fans.

When looking ahead to how they were going to deal with the later part of the last book [possible spoilers ahead about the Deathly Hallows book and story], Radcliffe and Heyman noted that it takes place almost 20 years later, and they discussed how they would like that to be portrayed on-screen - Heyman is keen to employ the revolutionary technology used for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," but Radcliffe wasn’t so keen on that idea:

“I am nervous about that because if it’s good I’ll be really, really pleased; if it’s not good and that’s what people are left with, that would be awful. If it’s a choice between having me, Rupert [Grint] and Emma [Watson] looking a bit stupid and it being slightly comical or having other actors play us, I would go for other actors every time. So, we’ll see.”

WB may be saying they want to end the Harry Potter film franchise with a split to honor the final book, but this may just be a way to milk money from the fans to see the climax of the story since afterward there will be no more Harry Potter.

More news to come! Catch ya' later!