"Well, yes, everyone's got a break, in a sense," Heyman said in an interview on Dec. 3 in Beverly Hills, Calif., where he was promoting the comedy Yes Man. "It's not about breaking them into two. It's just the schedule is such that I guess it's long. There's more, so there's a lot of downtime without him. It's going well. It's great. I'm very, very lucky to be involved with it."

"No need to [do more work]," Heyman said. "If we had to come out now, we'd be fine. Warners asked it because of the writers' strike, because of various reasons. They have a shortage of product for next summer, and they asked if it's OK [to delay the release]."

Don't worry, Potter fans. Warner Brothers would not shortchange its most magical franchise. "They've been absolutely fantastic supporting these films," Heyman said. "You couldn't ask for a better studio in terms of what they've given us, the independence and support that they've given us throughout the process, so of course we said yes."

"It's different than the other films," says Heyman. "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. We follow multiple stories: Harry's relationship with Ginny Weasley, Ron's relationship with Lavender Brown. … There also is Hermione's discomfort with Ron's relationship with Lavender. There's Draco Malfoy's story. And then there's Harry's relationship with (Hogwarts headmaster and professor) Dumbledore. We're following these multiple stories that enrich the canvas."

And Ron discovers his newfound Quidditch talents, after thinking he had taken a good-luck potion.

"Ron is scared witless for the game," says Heyman. " So, Harry pretends to slip him some felix felices, a liquid luck potion. All of a sudden he's imbued with fresh confidence, and he's remarkable in the Quidditch match. He's performing miracles. With that comes incredible delight and maybe a little bit of cockiness."