Disney's decision to bail on 'Narnia' has prompted questions for other fantasy movies including 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' and its two follow-ups.
- Dec 29, 2008
AceShowbiz - The economy crisis has started to show its impact on the movie industry with the axing of third "Narnia" installment by Disney. This consequently put a question mark on the continuation of the production for other epic fantasy movies, including "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince".
The sixth installment of "Harry Potter" may also not escape the fate, an article on The Independent stated, even though it is dubbed the "the most profitable franchise in film history". Screenwriter Steve Kloves, as quoted by the article, even said that Warner Bros are worried about the prospect of the last three movies of the franchise, "Half-Blood Prince", "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II".
The lukewarm interest in producing these installments reportedly has something to do with the halt of books by author J.K. Rowling that contributes less interest in the "Harry Potter" story. Independent also points out that the wider film industry is going to do a lot of budget cutting in 2009.
Fact check, "Harry Potter" is one of the most successful franchise movies in the history of the industry. The previous chapters surpassed trilogy of "Lord of the Rings" and "Star Wars" in sales with $4.5 billion. "Half Blood Prince" is expected to be released on July 17 next year while the two parts of "Deathly Hallows" are scheduled for November 19, 2010 and May 1, 2011 respectively.
Last week, Disney executives announced that they have decided to pull the plug on their participation of future installments of "Narnia" series. A spokesperson told Variety, "We are no longer going forward with the movie due to budgetary considerations and other logistics."
