DEATHLY HALLOWS” SMASHES RECORDS, RAKES IN P102-M IN 4 DAYS

MANILA, Nov. 22 – It's Pottermania all over again in the Philippines as Warner Bros.' “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” shattered records and created box-office magic!    

The seventh Potter film made history by debuting with a death-defying P102-M nationwide for the Nov 18-21 frame, this according to Francis Soliven, general manager of Warner Bros. (F.E.), Inc. which distributed the film.

It’s four-day Metro Manila gross of P75.6-million represents the year’s most successful opening weekend for a Warner Bros. title, beating April’s mythological blockbuster “Clash of the Titans.”

Rolling out in more than 100 screens across the country, “Deathly Hallows” posted magical openings in the following Top 20 cinemas: SM Mall of Asia (P8.13-M), SM North EDSA (P6.32-M), Trinoma (P5.98-M), Glorietta 4 (P3.97-M), Gateway Cineplex (P3.81-M), SM Megamall (P3.73-M), SM Cebu (P3.58-M), Greenbelt 3 (P2.96-M), Power Plant (P2.93-M) and Eastwood (P2.57-M).

Also showing impressive sales are Shang Cineplex (P2.45-M), Ayala Cebu (P2.22-M), Robinsons Ermita (P2.13-M), Alabang Town Center (P2.12-M), Robinsons Galleria (P1.91-M), Theatremall (P1.73-M), Market Market (P1.62-M), Festival (P1.58-M), SM San Lazaro (P1.52-M) and SM Fairview (P1.44-M).

Internationally, “Hallows – Part 1” soared to the top of the global box office in its opening weekend, earning a staggering $330.1 million dollars worldwide, encompassing $125.1 million in the US and $205 million overseas. 

The North American box office numbers shattered the franchise’s previous opening weekend record—held by “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” at $102.6 million—surpassing it by an astounding 23%. 

Worldwide, the opening weekend for “Hallows” ranks as one of the highest of all time, which is especially impressive for a non-holiday weekend.

With the success of its first six of seven titles, the Harry Potter series had already achieved the distinction of being the top-grossing film franchise of all time, reaching a combined worldwide gross of $5.4 billion.  The numbers for “Deathly Hallows – Part 1,” as well as the anticipation for “Part 2,” opening on July 15, 2011, should ensure its place in film history for years to come.

In “Part 1,” Harry, Ron and Hermione set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s immortality and destruction—the Horcruxes.  On their own, without the guidance of their professors or the protection of Professor Dumbledore, the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever.  But there are Dark Forces in their midst that threaten to tear them apart.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” is still showing across the Philippines.

Movie Review:Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows part 1

Do I need to mention the synopsis? Seems like I don't need to tell because everybody knows that it's the seventh year of our boy Harry. My review will be partly from the book but more on the perspective of a moviegoer. As expected since it's part 1, you know you are expecting a cliffhanger in the end. Since Book 5 or the fifth movie, the Harry Potter stories got gloomy. Deathly Hallows Part 1 is the gloomiest story. Nevertheless, the Deathly Hallows Part 1 has revelations, some exciting scenes, comical situations and some romantic moments. What I didn't expect here was casting Bill Nighy as Rufus Scrimgeour. He is one of my favorite British actors but he wasn't what was describe in the book with leonic features but was as authoritative in his role. Personally, I am not disappointed that Book 7 story was divided in two parts. The finale like this needs longer hours because one movie can't bring justice to the story. Part 1's screening time is approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.if you already read the separate book that in the Harry Potter universe, Tales of Beedle the Bard, it might be useful to have the head start if you read it first because it relates to this story. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows opens today in all cinemas.

VOLDEMORT HUNTS DOWN HARRY IN “DEATHLY HALLOWS, PART 1”

In Warner Bros.’ “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” -- the seventh and final adventure in the Harry Potter film series told in two full-length parts -- Lord Voldemort is on a mission: to end the life of “the Boy Who Lived.” 

Director David Yates says, “Voldemort is on the cusp of absolute power.  He’s been hiding in the shadows, biding his time until he could come back and impose his will on the rest of the world.  Everything else in his master plan has come together; he just needs to deal with this one tiny detail.  Voldemort doesn’t understand how this ‘child’ has become his strongest adversary, but he does know he must be the one to kill Harry Potter.  First of all, it was destined and, secondly, there is the sheer satisfaction of it after being thwarted so often.  It’s beyond personal at this point.”

            Ralph Fiennes, who is virtually unrecognizable in the role of Lord Voldemort, says that his character is “driven by a deep rage.  The only thing that fires him up is power and more power—the ability to control, to manipulate and to destroy people.  It’s his addiction.”

Yates remarks, “Ralph is very scary when he’s playing Voldemort.  He has the capacity to tune into some very dark places as an actor; you can literally feel the temperature in the room drop as he inhabits the character.”

            The Death Eaters regard the Dark Lord with a mixture of reverence and fear, knowing he needs little provocation to turn on even his most loyal followers.  If they need a reminder of that threat, it is there in the companion always at Voldemort’s side—and the only living creature Voldemort treats with actual tenderness—the great snake named Nagini.

Voldemort has summoned his most elite Death Eaters to Malfoy Manor to plan when, where and how to ambush Harry Potter.  The last to arrive is Severus Snape, played by Alan Rickman.  Snape informs those assembled when Harry will be leaving his Privet Drive home, warning them that he will be “given every protection” by the Order of the Phoenix.  Nevertheless, Fiennes states, “Voldemort believes he is finally going to defeat Harry Potter.  He is enjoying his rule, emperor-like.”

            However, Voldemort has discovered that he cannot kill Harry Potter with his own wand.  He has extracted from wand maker Ollivander (John Hurt) that his and Harry’s wands are “twins,” possessing the same core and thereby robbing them of their power against each other.  In a voice dripping with thinly veiled malice, he suggests that Lucius Malfoy have the “honor” of giving up his wand to Voldemort.

Jason Isaacs, who again assumes the role of Lucius Malfoy, says the loss of his wand may be only the latest comeuppance to befall Lucius, but it is, by far, the worst.  “To take a wizard’s wand is to completely undermine him, and not only does Voldemort take it, but he also snaps off the snake head—a flashy, personal family adornment—and flings it on the table like a piece of dirt, which emasculates Lucius in front of all the other Death Eaters.  Lucius had always been an incredibly vain and arrogant peacock; he’d always assumed he’d stand with Voldemort as his right-hand man.  But after being broken by prison, after Draco failed in his mission to kill Dumbledore, and after this public humiliation, he has no idea what the future holds for him…if he has a future.  All-in-all, a just reward.”

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” will be released worldwide starting November 18, 2010, and “Part 2” starting July 15, 2011.

THE END BEGINS IN “HARRY POTTER AND DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 1”

Daniel Radcliffe in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Phils.

From the moment he was introduced, people all over the globe have thrilled to the adventures of Harry Potter, the boy wizard who changed both literary and cinema history.  For more than a decade, David Heyman has been immersed in that magical world, as the producer of all the films based on the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling, who also served as a producer on the film adaptation of her seventh and final title, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”

But as Heyman approached the last installment in the record-breaking film franchise, he realized that it presented some unique challenges, not the least of which was how to encompass all of the series’ interwoven story threads as they sped toward the climactic conclusion. 

Breaking from the tradition of the film series, the decision was made to split “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” into two full-length parts.  “When Steve Kloves began working on the screenplay, it became clear we would have to omit too much to do justice to Jo’s book in one film,” Heyman explains.  “There were simply too many details that were integral to the resolution of the series.”

Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the title role of Harry Potter, offers, “The intricacy of the plot Jo had mapped out from the beginning is a fantastic feat of storytelling.  It has twists and turns, mystery and romance, comedy and action…all the brilliant things people have responded to over the years.  It was the only way we could tell the story in a complete and fulfilling way.”

Helming his third Harry Potter feature, David Yates says that Part 1 of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” also breaks tradition by taking the central characters away from the familiar surroundings of Hogwarts.  It is actually the first film in the franchise in which the iconic School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is never even seen.  “I think that’s one of the most intriguing things about Part 1,” the director states.  “We’re away from the magical environment of Hogwarts, which felt very safe even when the characters were in utter jeopardy.  Suddenly Harry, Ron and Hermione are trying to survive out in the big, bad world, and it’s a dangerous place.  They feel isolated and alone and very vulnerable.  It makes the adventure much edgier and more grownup, which really appealed to me, and to Dan, Rupert and Emma as well.”

Radcliffe attests, “I think it gives the film a more adult tone because it’s harder to see us as school kids when we’re no longer at school.”

Reprising the role of Ron Weasley, Rupert Grint comments, “Away from the safety of Hogwarts and the protection of their parents and teachers, anything can happen.  They can be attacked at any moment, which gives the film a different energy.”

“Harry, Hermione and Ron don’t have a home anymore,” notes Emma Watson, who returns to the part of Hermione Granger.  “They are always on the move and, worse, they are being hunted, so they don’t know who to trust.  But the stakes are high, so they have to be brave.”

In fact, the stakes have never been higher as the fates of both the Wizarding world and the Muggle world rest in their young hands.  Having learned the secret to Voldemort’s power and immortality, Harry is on a mission to track down the Horcruxes: items in which the Dark Lord has hidden pieces of his very soul.  If even one remains, Voldemort can never be defeated.  Two of the Horcruxes have already been destroyed—Tom Riddle’s diary and the ring that belonged to Marvolo Gaunt, Riddle’s maternal grandfather.  Harry and Dumbledore believed they had located the third Horcrux, Salazar Slytherin’s locket, but it turned out to be a fake, and the real one stolen by someone with the initials R.A.B.

And the others…?  The problem is the Horcruxes can be virtually anywhere or in anything.

“I’ve always believed that, for all the magic and action and adventure of the Harry Potter stories, at the heart it’s about these characters,” Heyman emphasizes.  “In this film, their relationship is more complex than ever, and in exploring them more deeply, Dan, Rupert and Emma are better than ever.”

Yates agrees, adding that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson felt a strong sense of responsibility towards the roles they inhabited for almost half their lives.  “They knew intuitively how their characters would respond to certain things, often much better than we did.  I love that about them.  As a director, it was wonderful to engage with them because there were times I wasn’t just talking to the actor; I was actually talking to the character.”

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” will be released worldwide starting November 18, 2010, and “Part 2” starting July 15, 2011.

NEW “DEATHLY HALLOWS” BANNERS

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter

Warner Bros. recently revealed seven new character banners to promote the upcoming fantasy adventure “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1”

He-who-must-not-be-named

The individual banners feature the characters Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Lord Voldemort, Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback.

Fenrir Greyback

In the film, as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s immortality and destruction—the Horcruxes. On their own, without the guidance of their professors or the protection of Professor Dumbledore, the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever. But there are Dark Forces in their midst that threaten to tear them apart.

Meanwhile, the following is Warner Bros.' official statement regarding the format of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1”:

Warner Bros. Pictures has made the decision to release “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” in 2D, in both conventional and IMAX theaters, as we will not have a completed 3D version of the film within our release date window. Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality. We do not want to disappoint fans who have long anticipated the conclusion of this extraordinary journey, and to that end, we are releasing our film day-and-date on November 18, 2010, as planned. We, in alignment with our filmmakers, believe this is the best course to take in order to ensure that our audiences enjoy the consummate “Harry Potter” experience.

Producer David Heyman said, “For 10 years, we have worked alongside Alan Horn and the studio, whose priority has always been to preserve the integrity of Jo Rowling’s books as we have adapted them to the screen, and this decision reflects that commitment.”

Director David Yates added, “This decision, which we completely support, underscores the fact that Warner Bros. has always put quality first.”

As scheduled, on July 15, 2011, we will deliver to conventional and IMAX theaters our final installment of the film franchise, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2,” in both 2D and 3D formats.