ABC Family Sneaks a Little ‘Half Blood Prince’

Posted by Robin Ruinsky (robin@filmschoolrejects.com) on December 6, 2008

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince was scheduled to be released this past November. It was ready to go in the slot that Twilight ended up taking. Because of the delay there was much depression in Potter Land. Some Potterites even threatened boycotting the film because of the delay, but we know that won’t happen. They will be drawn to the latest film installment like moths to the flame or snakes to Voldemort.

Still for Potter fans July must seem a long way away. It must loom far past the horizon, the warm days of summer a distant second to the newest Harry Potter film.

But there is hope. The Potterites can still get a Potter fix in the new photo out of Frank Dillane as the teenage Tom Riddle who will go on to become the Dark Lord, Voldemort. Better yet ABC TV will have a first looks at the film from December 5-7 during their Harry Potter weekend.

There will be a discussion of the film by the cast, Daniel Radcliffe, Harry, Emma Watson, Hermione, Rupert Grint, Ron and Michael Gambon, Dumbledore. The sneak peak includes a look at the rise of raging hormones among the youthful inhabitants of Hogwarts as well as a look at Tom Riddle’s early life. A new character will also be introduced, Professor Slughorn, Jim Broadbent.

The trailer looks promising with its scenes of Voldemort when he was still in human form, a mere boy trying to fit in among Muggles. Of course the beloved Hogwarts is in danger and will never be the same. That’s been the long running theme of all of the Potter books and films. But the flashbacks to Tom Riddle look interesting and the look into the life of the boy who will become Voldemort should have emotional resonance.

Frank Dillane is the teenage Tom Riddle, Michael Berendt is Tom at age eighteen and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin plays Tom at age eleven. He’s the nephew of Ralph Fiennes who plays Voldemort.

David Yates, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is back and will be the director of the last two films, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows I and II, the final book split into two installments.

Producer David Heyman spoke to USA Today about Half Blood Prince telling the paper “It’s different than the other films. It’s not the non-stop action that some of the others are, although there is some action. It’s more of an emotional film.”

Let’s hope that the film is a very good one. After the aborted release and the delay, Harry Potter fans will need to see a film that was worth the wait.

Read more articles by Robin Ruinsky