TWILIGHT takes POTTER slot

By Matt Holmes / June 25, 2011

Summit Entertainment are taking advantage of Warner Bros. decision to move Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from it's November 21st 2008 release date to July next year, by shifting the first movie in Stephenie Meyer'sTwilight series of novels to that original date. This is three weeks earlier than it's previously set release date, where it was originally to open against 20th Century Fox's remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still.

"With a giant franchise like 'Harry Potter' in the market, we had to stay clear of it," said Summit Entertainment co-chairman and CEO Rob Friedman. "Their move created an opportunity to bring the movie to fans three weeks earlier, who have continued to show their enthusiasm, from Comic-Con to the giant 'Breaking Dawn' book sales. We felt we had to take that opportunity."

Analysts are expecting Twilight to become a new popular film sensation as the Harry Potter franchise when the first movie in the similarly popular young adult series took off at the turn of the Millennium. The $37 million adaptation of the first book directed by Thirteen and Lords of Dogtown helmer Catherine Hardwicke stars Kirsten Stewart as the teenage girl who risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire. source - variety