The sixth Harry Potter film has just been pushed back from 21 November 2008 to 17 July 2009, apparently because Warner Brothers want to plug a gap in their schedule next summer, created by this year's writers' strike. Consequently this teaser trailer is a little premature now, but fans will have to make do...
Unlike previous teasers, this one doesn't really focus on Harry Potter. Instead, it's primarily a flashback scene to a young Lord Voldemort (then known as Tom Riddle) being visited by Dumbledore, in true Professor X-style. To be honest, I've never found the Potter trailers to be particularly thrilling. I enjoy the films to varying degrees (most exciting: Prisoner Of Azkaban; least exciting: Order Of The Phoenix), but have never been swept up in "Pottermania".
I remember very clearly only getting about 50 pages into the first Harry Potter book before giving up on it, too. But I do like this franchise. It's arguably the most successful book adaptation of all time. Yes, I'm including Lord Of The Rings in that statement, because Peter Jackson practically rewrote J.R.R Tolkien's trilogy to improve the story and make it work for cinema. The Potter films (accepting some edits for running time) practically put the books right up their on the big screen.
So, yes; the teaser is very effective and Tom Riddle has a delicious Damian Thorn creep-factor to him. The books intentionally get darker and this one looks quite sinister. I haven't read the book, but I'm assuming from this teaser that it's a bit more focused on the villains? Can anyone clarify? The fact there are only 2 films left after this one (The Deathly Hallows is being split in half) means the Potter franchise also has a sense of reaching a crescendo just now.
Interestingly, The Half-Blood Prince is the first Potter film being released into a world where fans know the ultimate outcome for these characters and J.K Rowling's story. Will that have any effect on business? I doubt it. But maybe fans' viewing experiences will be different, though. There'll be no point looking for "clues" about anyone's fate, for example...
Released: 17 July 2009 (US & UK)
HD Download: 480P (30MB), 720P (72MB) & 1080P (120MB)
