The release date for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been pushed back by eight months, to July 2009.

The sixth instalment of the teenage wizard's adventures was supposed to have its Royal premiere on 17 November.

Alan Horn, president of studio Warner Bros, said the decision was taken to guarantee the studio a Stars wow Narnia fans at premiere ...
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He also blamed the Hollywood writers' strike, which hit the film industry hard earlier this year.

Mr Horn said the strike, which ended in February, had "impacted the readiness of scripts for other films."

Fantasy books

He said: "The picture is completely, absolutely, 100% on schedule, on time. There were no delays.

"I've seen the movie. It is fabulous. We would have been perfectly able to have it out in November."

The move will mean a two-year delay between the film adaptations of books five and six in JK Rowling's fantasy series.

But it will shorten fans' wait between Half-Blood Prince and the final two instalments of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which are being shot simultaneously next year.

It is thought actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson - who is celebrating getting straight As in her A Levels in English Literature, Geography and Art - will reprise their roles.

The release date for part one is tentatively set for November 2010.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had been chosen for this year's Royal Film Performance, on 17 November.

Last year's Royal Film Performance was cancelled amid controversy about the chosen movie, Brick Lane.

It was first time the annual gala had been scrapped since 1958.

(BBC)

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