The producer of the films based on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has promised fans a "bold" take on the final book of Jk Rowling's series.

It was revealed last year that Warner Bros studios has taken the decision to split the seventh novel in JK Rowling's hugely successful saga into two films, so as to pay suitable attention to its 784 pages of wizard action.

Speaking to Empire magazine as the release date of the sixth film in the series - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - neared, producer David Heyman dropped some hints about the exact point in the novel at which the first film would end.

"We've played around with a couple of places," said Heyman, "and ultimately settled on a place that we think is very exciting, and I think quite bold, in that it's not necessarily where one might expect."

He added: "You want to give a sense of completion, on one hand, but a sense that there's another piece, more to come.

"We tried one and then Steve [Kloves, screenwriter] came up with the idea to try it another way and when we tried that, it felt just right."

Daniel Radcliffe, who has played the Boy Who Lived in all the movies, added that the split in the two films comes "at a very tense cliffhanger".

***SPOILER ALERT***

Heyman and Radcliffe also discussed the challenges of filming the coda to Rowling's climactic book, which sees Harry and friends some 19 years in the future.

While Heyman is reportedly keen on using the same technology that allowed Brad Pitt to age more than 60 years - backwards - in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Radcliffe admitted to reservations.

"I am nervous about that," he told Empire, "because if it's good I'll be really, really pleased; if it's not good and that's what people are left with, that would be awful.

"If it's a choice between having me, Rupert and Emma looking a bit stupid and it being slightly comical or having other actors play us, I would go for other actors every time. So, we'll see."

The new issue of Empire is out on April 23rd.


21/04/2009 10:17:47