Potter Fans Furious

Warner Bros.

Fan sites including The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet are gurgling with consternation over Warner Bros.’ announcement that the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will not push through on November 2008 and will instead be shown in July of next year.

A MuggleNet user posted, "Totally disgusted by WB's decision. I'm totally convinced that the decision was motivated by money and only money."

On The Leaky Cauldron, one member wrote, "This is a huge let down (sic). I can't believe that they are moving it back by nearly eight months!"

By now, numerous petitions are springing up online – and even off.

One such appeal is picking up steam, collecting almost 35,000 digital signatures. Offline, members of Dumbledore’s Army are campaigning and convincing fans to resort to ink and paper to drum up more noise.

Some are taking it a step further by making plans to stage a protest outside Warner’s corporate office in New York, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. admits that the choice to delay the latest Potter installment and turn it into a summer release will "increase the film's box office potential."

In a statement, WB president Alan Horn said, "Like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers' strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films."

The delay is not expected to have any effect on the showing of the final two installments in the franchise, tentatively set for release starting in 2010.