Harry Potter's Last Hurrah Coming in Two Films

The publishing industry is going through Harry Potter withdrawal symptoms without their yearly fix, but Hollywood just pulled off a trick that will keep its profitable hero into the next decade, according to the Los Angeles Times. Warner Bros. Pictures and the producers behind the $4.5-billion Harry Potter film franchise will split the seventh and final novel in the J.K. Rowling series into two films. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I will hit theaters in November 2010, followed by Part II in May 2011. Daniel Radcliffe pretends this is an honor to the book and not just a reason to make lots of dough after the jump.

Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the franchise, said it was the dense action of the final novel that made the decision, not any executive or ledger.

"I think it's the only way you can do it, without cutting out a huge portion of the book," Radcliffe said. "There have been compartmentalized subplots in the other books that have made them easier to cut -- although those cuts were still to the horror of some fans -- but the seventh book doesn't really have any subplots. It's one driving, pounding story from the word go."