After months and months of waiting, groveling, and tormenting cast members for news, Harry Potter fans can now rejoice! For scans from the newest Entertainment Weekly have revealed the SPLIT for HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS!
“Part I will end at about Chapter 24, with Voldemort gaining possession of the Elder Wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows”
The article (which is most easily accessible though The Leaky Cauldron) goes on to explain that while the decision was economical – it was also creative, with the intention of portraying Jo Rowling’s book the best way possible. It is interesting to note that, the article does mention that the end will be at “about” Chapter 24. Voldemort gets the wand at the END of Chapter 24 (“The Wandmaker”), meaning that there will likely be the conversation between Harry and Ollivander that we saw in the original teaser trailer (“What do you know about the Deathly Hallows”). It doesn’t really make sense to not have the conversation – after all, the audience doesn’t know what the Deathly Hallows are and that Dumbledore had the Elder Wand, then Voldemort defacing the grave and stealing the wand really wouldn’t be that climactic. [Assuming, that for some obscure reason, you haven’t read the book].
In addition to the split, new cast interviews and behind the scenes snapshots can be found in the article. The article also gives some insight into the difficulty of the filming:
“In the film, Ron and Hermione have recently destroyed another horcrux in water and were pursued by a Voldemort-shaped tsunami. [They] were kept soaked by crew members, who sprayed the pair down every few minutes. It was not making Watson happy: “It’s been this way for weeks,” she said, shivering next to a space heater. “I hate to sound whiny, but it’s horrible. It’s miserable being wet all the time.”Director David Yates went on: “‘We shot for a very long time, by any standards’ Yates says of the final two films. ‘Dan and Rupert were on set for a year – and there were phases, periods, where they all felt like ‘God, we just gotta get to the end of it. We need closure.’ ‘This film has been hard to make, says Radcliffe, ‘and I’ve had some of the most trying moments, both physically and mentally’.
Despite the difficulty of shooting, the rewards will be incredible – both for the actors, and the audience. Emma justified the misery of being sopping wet:
“You know, I was told it will look very dramatic when you see the films, so it will be worth it.”
Similarly, David Yates described what makes the actors so dedicated,
“From my point of view, they were also very committed to giving their best because this was the last opportunity to be these characters”.
Even though the cast is ready to move on (it has, after all, been 10 years), each has a special place in their heart for Harry Potter. In recent interviews, we’ve heard of how much Tom Felton and Dan Radcliffe are going to miss filming. Said Tom, at Comic Con, “Dan cried like a girl”. And now Rupert adds his two cents, “The film is a great way to finish the whole era, and its going to be sad, because obviously all my friends are here”. The article discusses the last day the trio filmed together:
“It was bizarre,” said Watson. “Walking onto set that day, there was this incredibly thick atmosphere. It felt like a moment in history. It felt really big”. In the scene, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have broken into the Ministry of Magic. They jinx a women, and drag her into a tiny storage area. So the final frame ever shot of all three actors together takes place in a cramped little room. “These three characters have been in the most fantastical situations at Hogwarts – they’ve been in the Dark Forest, all these extraordinary places,” says Yates. “It was an odd way to finish, really”. But poetic, perhaps, considering that the whole series began with a boy who lived in a tiny room under the stairs of a house on Privet Drive. “In a way,” says Yates, “the series started with a cupboard and ended with one”.
The magazine article, as is customary for Entertainment Weekly, was flooded with brand new pictures, including:
- The Death Eaters in Malfoy Manor with Draco Malfoy, his parents, and Bellatrix
- A glimpse of Xenophillius Lovegood
- Multiple pictures of Harry and Hermione
- New glimpses (and descriptions) of Bathilda Bagshot, Ministry Officials, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Gregorovitch
- A sweet shot of Ginny and Harry
- A two page spanning wide shot of Hagrid and Harry in the flying motorbike
- A highly detailed shot [scene below] of Harry scrambling to grab something (presumably his wand) in a destroyed house (most likely the circular house of the Lovegood’s).
Scans of the article, which includes the picture can be found in excellent quality on rupertgrint.net.
Thoughts on the Split
While I was hoping for something a little more ‘cliff-hanger’ like for the ending (after the Snatchers snatch the trio, Hermione’s tortured screams echoing over a black screen), I think this will make an excellent ending to Part I. Giving the audience a change to breathe after what is sure to be a terrifying Malfoy Manor scene may be just what we need to be able to exit the theatre in an organized fashion. The split leaves a lot of room in the second half for a cinematographic masterpiece. Overall? I am quite pleased with the decision, and although I was kind of hoping they wouldn’t reveal the decision at all, and let us find out at the premiere, I think this makes more sense. After all – if you don’t like it, now you can get over it by the time the film is out.
Thoughts on the Article
As a fan of the books, but also of the movies, I am thrilled to see that the actors have not only put their heart and soul into the characters. There is nothing worse than an actor who doesn’t care about their character. Off screen, while sitting in the audience, there is something about knowing that an actor really connected and understood their character that makes the experience all the more real. I really enjoyed the article, and hope to get the actual edition in the future.
Cheers – and go CRAZY HP fans! Its okay!
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What are your thoughts? Happy with the split? Had other ideas? Share them below!
Thanks to rupertgrint.net for all the scans.
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