Business Implications of a Two-Part GoF Movie

[cindysphynx]

As we've all heard, they are thinking of doing a two-part GoF movie.  
I was wondering what the business implications of doing this might 
be.  So far as I know, there has never been a major motion picture 
that was released in two parts, four weeks apart.  

Setting aside whether the fans on the list would like to see as much 
HP as we can get, I wonder how the folks at Warner Brothers are 
sorting this out.  On the one hand, Hollywood seems to like to 
stretch things out as much as possible, figuring it is easier to 
wring profits from the product if there is more of the product to 
squeeze.  

On the other hand, there are definite risks involved.  Is it too 
risky because if the first movie is panned or bombs, it might tank 
the second one?  Would it saturate the market and dampen enthusiasm
(which is one reason I think they are trying to stagger the book and 
movie releases)?  What portion of the movie-going public would pick 
one movie or the other, but not both?  How would you sustain the 
marketing buzz over such a long period?  How would movie theatre 
operators feel about tying up their screens for double the normal 
amount of time for a first release?  

Any thoughts?

Cindy (who would love to see the internal Warner Brothers memos 
analyzing these issues)