David Heyman Talks Split, Both Films Around 2 1/2 Hours Long

Empire magazine has a new interview with producer David Heyman on the recent news that Deathly Hallows will be split into two films.

Did you get as far as trying to put a script together that would get everything in to one film, or did it become obvious in discussions that it would work?

No, it all came down to discussions. We just thought how are we going to approach this? Is this going to be a four and a half hour film? That’s probably what it would have been. Would our audience really embrace that? In some way, I think they might. But I think the younger ones would have drifted. There’s always been difficulty making sure that the ones that are two hours, two and a half hours long – making sure that those are the right length. I think by having two films that are two and a half hours – although we’re not sure of the length – then it will be a richer experience. One of the challenges that faces us, which we’ve been discussing, is how to give each film its own identity. We want them to feel like one film, but they’ve got to be self-contained too. We feel now that we’ve got a really good angle on that. But we haven’t got a script yet on either part, so I don’t want to say too much.

So these films will be the same length as the ones that came before? We won’t see two films that clock in under two hours?

No. The idea is to get everything people want in there. I’m sure there’ll be parts that don’t make it, which we won’t know until the script is written. But that is the idea.

What do you think is the natural separation point in the books? Where can you end the first film in a satisfying way?

It depends what feeling you want [to end on]. I don’t want to answer that just yet because we don’t have the first script. We do have a point roughly where we want to end, but we haven’t got a draft to know if that works yet.

The interview goes on the provide further insight how we should expect things to proceed in the next few years, including that the filming for both parts will occur at the same time. I highly recommend reading the entire interview here.

DH Two Film Split Under Consideration; Filming to Start Next February

The Daily Telegraph has a new interview with Harry Potter producers David Heyman and David Barron, in which the two discuss the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Concerning the rumors that the final book will be split into two films, the Davids confirm the possibility, but state that the idea is still under consideration and not near final.

"We are still discussing it. The announcement will be made hopefully in the not-too-distant future, with regards to the way seven shapes up," said Barron. "The only negative of splitting the book into two films, says Barron, "is that people could possibly perceive it as being one last chance at cashing in. But the real positive, if we were to do that, would be that we wouldn't have quite the battle we always have of 'How do you compress all that book into just over two hours of screen time?' It would be brilliant not to have to cut anything. But at the same time, we have to think it through properly. We'd have to be very certain that there were two proper, stand-alone films that could be generated from the source material."

As for who will be directing the film (or two films):

"There are an awful lot of directors, luckily for us, who are very keen on finishing the franchise off," says Barron.

"A couple of people have expressed interest, people have gotten a few calls and a few emails, but it's still a year away," Heyman says. "We won't start filming 'til February next year. So it hasn't really gone bananas yet. We've got thoughts, and I'm sure something will be announced in the not-too-distant future."