Hollywood's Magic Splits Final Potter Film in Two

It might have been called Harry Potter and the Eternal Sequel. Faced with the last in a series of books that ended with a climactic showdown, the producers of the $4.5bn-and-counting Harry Potter film franchise did what came naturally: they decided to turn the final installment into two films.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I will come out in November 2010, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II will appear the following May.

"There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut," the film's 18-year-old star, Daniel Radcliffe, told the Los Angeles Times. "The seventh book doesn't really have any subplots. It's one driving, pounding story from the word go."

Radcliffe's employer at Warner Bros, Alan Horn, said cutting the book to fit the film "would have been a disservice".

"This way, we have an extra hour and a half, at least, to celebrate what this franchise has been and do justice to all the words and ideas that Jo [Rowling] has put in the amazing story," Horn told the LA Times.

The double release will also help sustain marketing activities, including a theme park opening in Florida next year; and it means the two final films will be eligible for the 2011 and 2012 Oscars respectively.

Rowling is said to have given the plan her blessing. And while cynics may suggest the decision was a commercial one, it could be that the film-makers simply don't know whether to end the story in the same way the book does.

"That is something we will need to deal with," Horn said. "People have watched these kids grow up, and it's been very special to do so. That's important to us."