Given that the novel clocks in at 759 pages and 36 chapters, not to mention a controversial flash-forward epilogue, there's little question that the film adaptation of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" needed extra legroom to properly stretch itself. As a result, Warner Bros. made the fan-supported decision to split the final installment of the "Harry Potter" franchise into two movies, but one question still plagues Potterites everywhere: At what moment in the story will the films split up?
It would seem that the answer is upon us, as "Harry Potter" fan site Muggle Net has come across what appears to be scanned pages of a "Deathly Hallows" preview article from an upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly. In the article, it's clearly stated that the November-releasing first installment of "Deathly Hallows" concludes "at about Chapter 24 of the book, with Voldemort gaining possession of the Elder Wand, one of the three Deathly Hallows that allow the bearer to conquer death."
By all accounts, it appears that the scans are legitimate, potentially putting an end to countless hours of fan speculation about where the two movies would diverge. In the article, Warner Bros. Entertainment President Alan Horn spoke about splitting the last "Harry Potter" novel into two films, acknowledging that there were certainly commercial reasons driving the final decision.
"I don't want to be disingenuous or dishonest about this," Horn told Entertainment Weekly. "There's no question that Warner Bros. will make more money with two films than they would have with one. But we also never, ever would have done this if [author J.K. Rowling] had not endorsed it and if we didn't feel that we were providing a better finale, with a more full sense of closure. We just respect and love the books too much for that."
Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1."
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