In an interview with
Empire magazine, producer David Heyman talks in detail about the process and decisions made to make two
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows films as opposed to one.
David stated that the original idea was to make one film, but after the WGA's writers' strike, he, director David Yates, J.K. Rowling, and screenwriter Steve Kloves opted for two parts:
Quote:
Empire: When was the decision made to split the book into two films?
Heyman: We’ve been talking about it for – actually, right after the writers’ strike was when a definitive decision was made. We’d been talking about it for a while and we’d been mulling it and we thought that was the direction we’d go in after discussing it with Jo (Rowling). But a definitive decision was made once we were able to speak to (screenwriter) Steve Kloves after the strike. But we were angling toward that before the writers’ strike. Initially we thought we’d do it in one film, how we’d done it every time. But then when we began to really analyse it, we realised it was just impossible to fit everything in. Unlike previous films where you could drop certain things, like Hermione and SPEW or Ron’s [Quidditch], this one you can’t. There’s so much resolution and so much to resolve that you can’t drop it in the same way. Each of those incidences has a place and we didn’t want to compromise.
The issue of the films' length and its appeal to the audience were factors into making one or two films, as well:
Quote:
Did you get as far as trying to put a script together that would get everything in to one film, or did it become obvious in discussions that it would work?
Heyman: No, it all came down to discussions. We just thought how are we going to approach this? Is this going to be a four and a half hour film? That’s probably what it would have been. Would our audience really embrace that? In some way, I think they might. But I think the younger ones would have drifted. There’s always been difficulty making sure that the ones that are two hours, two and a half hours long – making sure that those are the right length. I think by having two films that are two and a half hours – although we’re not sure of the length – then it will be a richer experience. One of the challenges that faces us, which we’ve been discussing, is how to give each film its own identity. We want them to feel like one film, but they’ve got to be self-contained too. We feel now that we’ve got a really good angle on that. But we haven’t got a script yet on either part, so I don’t want to say too much.
Heyman admits that David Yates was immediately asked to direct the seventh movies, which will be about a year-long production to take place for most of 2009 as one concurrent film. Also, when he consulted Jo Rowling about the idea, she said, "You know what? I think that’s the right decision and whole-heartedly support you."
Deathly Hallows will release November 2010 and May 2011.