The PLAN

[Carol]

Alla wrote:
> <snip> I cannot find a link that PoA which was released in the
summer grossed **less** than the HP Movies that were released in 
November, so I think school out again is not very significant factor,

Carol responds:

I found a site recently that gave the release dates and box office
earnings (or was it profits?), but I can't find it now, so I'm
resorting to Wikipedia. (I assume that we can trust them with
statistical information verifiable elsewhere.) If I find the other
site again, I'll post the link. Meanwhile, here's the data from Wiki,
with irrelevant information snipped (figures are box office earnings,
not profits): 

Philosopher's Stone 	16 November, 2001 	$976,475,550
Chamber of Secrets 	15 November, 2002 	$878,988,482
Prisoner of Azkaban 	31 May, 2004 	        $795,541,069
Goblet of Fire 	        18 November, 2005 	$896,016,159
Order of the Phoenix 	11 July, 2007 	        $938,465,035

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_(films)

It looks as if May 31 is the worst date of the five. There's only one
July release date compared with three in November, but OoP has the
second highest profit, with only the first film of the franchise
earning more. (I read somewhere that OoP opened in 400 more theaters
worldwide than GoF, so there may be factors other than release dates
involdved in box office earnings.)

However, I'd say that a summer release date, when *most* kids and
teenagers worldwide are out of school (I'm not sure about Australia!),
is (or would normally be) a sound business decision. The problem in
this instance is the previously announced November release and the
disappointed fans. (The lack of another summer blockbuster because of
the writers' strike is probably also a factor.)

Anyway, aside from the risk of spontaneously exploding fans <smile>

http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/16_year_old_explodes_due_to_delay_of_harry_potter_6

http://tinyurl.com/5jre3z

I think WB will probably be happy with their decision in the long run.
I'll see the film about a week after it's released just as I would
have done otherwise. It's not the first time I've been disappointed by
a delayed release date for a film I wanted to see, and I doubt that it
will be the last.

Carol, wondering when the full trailer will come out and expecting
that it won't happen till May