Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is an upcoming 2009 fantasy-adventure film, based on the novel by J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth film in the popular Harry Potter films series. David Yates, the director of the fifth film, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, returned as director for this film. David Heyman and David Barron are producing the film,and Steve Kloves, writer of the first four films (but not the fifth), has returned as screenwriter for this film. Filming began on 24 September, 2007 and the film was originally planned for a UK and U.S. release on 21 November 2008, but on 14 August 2008, it was announced that the release date for the film was to be pushed back to 17 July 2009. Like the previous film, the sixth film will be simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3-D.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince movie poster

Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself increasingly drawn to Ginny, and so is Dean Thomas. Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hasn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates. Then there’s Hermione, simpering with jealousy but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

Following a week of rehearsals, principal photography began on 24 September 2007 and ended on 17 May 2008. Before filming commenced, there was belief that filming may move from the UK, where all of the previous five films have been shot. This is North Scotland reported filming will take place in New Zealand, due to the “more agreeable economy and climate” and lack of Scottish funding. The Sunday Business Post in Ireland noted that the film’s producers and WB executives had been scouting there, specifically Leinster and Munster because they “believe they have now exhausted possible locations in Britain.” They are “particularly keen on Ireland, as the landscape is similar to Britain and will appear similar to the settings of the previous films.”The crew also scouted around Cape Wrath in Scotland, for use in the cave scene. Filming returned to Glen Coe and Glenfinnan, both which have appeared in the previous films, to preserve the continuity of the landscape.

On the weekend of 6 October 2007, the crew shot scenes involving the Hogwarts Express in the misty and dewy environment of Fort William, Scotland. A series of night scenes were filmed in the village of Lacock and the cloisters at Lacock Abbey for three nights starting 25 October 2007. Filming took place from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. daily, and residents of the street were asked to black out their windows with dark blinds. On set reports indicated that the main scene filmed was Harry and Dumbledore’s visit to Slughorn’s house. Further filming took place in Surbiton railway station in October 2007, Gloucester Cathedral, where the first and second films were shot, in February 2008, and at the Millennium Bridge in London in March 2008.

Though Radcliffe, Gambon, and Broadbent started shooting in late September 2007, some other cast members started much later: Watson did not begin until December 2007, Grint did not begin until November 2007, Rickman until January 2008, and Bonham Carter until February 2008

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