Press Release from Warner Bros. Home Video
Burbank, CA, September 17, 2009 – Wizards and muggles beware! No one is safe as Harry Potter returns for his sixth year at Hogwarts in HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, which arrives on Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD this December 8th from Warner Home Video. The entire ensemble cast is back for the sixth installment of the record-breaking franchise based on the best-selling book series by J.K. Rowling.
In HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, Voldemort tightens his grip on Hogwarts as Harry and Dumbledore work to find the key to unlock the Dark Lord’s defenses. But the students are under attack from a very different adversary—teenage hormones. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.
From celebrated director David Yates (BBC’s STATE OF PLAY, HARRY POTTER series Years 5-7), HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE brings back the highly-acclaimed cast including Daniel Radcliffe (BBC’s MY BOY JACK, DECEMBER BOYS), Rupert Grint (DRIVING LESSONS) and Emma Watson (The TALE OF DESPEREAUX) as well as two-time Academy Award Winner Maggie Smith (GOSFORD PARK, A ROOM WITH A VIEW), Academy Award Nominee Helena Bonham Carter (SWEENEY TODD, TIM BURTON’S CORPSE BRIDE), Alan Rickman (LOVE ACTUALLY, DIE HARD) and Michael Gambon (THE GOOD SHEPHERD, GOSFORD PARK). HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE also introduces Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent (IRIS, MOULIN ROUGE!) as Professor Horace Slughorn.
The Blu-ray disc of HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE will feature Warner Bros. Maximum Movie Mode, an interactive viewing experience that examines the entire film with such features as Focus Points, Picture-in-Picture, photo galleries and more. Maximum Movie Mode includes commentary from director David Yates, producers David Heyman and David Barron, and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Tom Felton.
The disc also includes Warner Bros. BD-Live, which allows users with web-enabled Blu-ray players to access exciting additional content and connect and share with other BD-Live users via the My Commentary and Live Community Screening features. Another feature of the BD-Live interactivity is Facebook Connect, which allows users to interact with their friends from Facebook, update their Facebook status while in BD-Live and invite their Facebook friends to a Live Community Screening.
More exciting BD-Live initiatives will be announced in the coming weeks.
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE will be available as a Blu-ray Combo Pack (Blu-ray discs featuring the theatrical film and special features, standard disc featuring the theatrical film and Digital Copy of the film) for $35.99, 2-disc special edition DVD for $34.99 and on single disc DVD for $28.98.
HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE will also be available to buy on December 8th as a Digital Download from digital movie retailers and select game consoles.
On December 15th HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE will be available to rent ON DEMAND through Digital Cable, Satellite TV, internet movie retailers and select game consoles.
Also available in December:
The first two of eight Harry Potter Ultimate Editions (HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE and HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS). Each of the Ultimate Editions will include a new one-hour featurette that highlights a unique aspect of the filmmaking process. Editions include 5 hours of special features, theatrical and extended versions of the film, 48-page collectible photo book and other magical collectibles. ($49.99 SRP on Blu-ray; $39.92 SRP on DVD)
Harry Potter fans can enter into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry like never before as Warner Home Video releases Harry Potter: Wizarding World, the second DVD game from the popular franchise. The DVD game enables fans to further the movie experience by testing their potion-making, spell-casting, and apparition skills in the magical world of Harry Potter. ($24.98 SRP)
The Harry Potter Spells app transforms your iPhoneTM and iPod touch into a wand. Begin your training at Hogwarts and learn to cast over thirteen spells. Practice spells on your own and then challenge friends to a real-time duel. Available to buy this November exclusively on the iTunes App Store.
Also available is the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince free app for the iPhone and iPod touch.
Warner Bros. mobile website at m.warnerbros.com.
BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince contains the following special features:
2-Disc Special Edition DVD:
- Close-Up with the Cast and Crew of HARRY POTTER: Hosts Matthew Lewis (“Neville Longbottom”) and Alfred Enoch (“Dean Thomas”) lead us on an entertaining look at the cast of Harry Potter as they explore their interests away from acting and spend a day on set with the production team (28:30)
- J.K. Rowling: A Year in the Life: A fascinating and intimate look into the life of J.K. Rowling over the last year of writing HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS. (49:32)
- One Minute Drills: The cast has 60 seconds to describe their character’s personality, history, relationships and other traits before time runs out (6:43)
- What's On Your Mind: Hosted by Tom Felton, the cast is put on the spot when asked a series of rapid-fire questions on their likes and dislikes. (6:41)
- Universal's The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Sneak Peek: Get an “inside look” at the amazing world of magic and excitement being created at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida (11:38)
- Additional Scenes (6:31)
- Digital Copy of the theatrical film
Blu-ray Combo Pack includes all of the content in the 2-Disc Special Edition plus:
- WB Maximum Movie Mode with Director David Yates, Producers David Heyman and David Barron, and cast members Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Tom Felton (1:38:00)
- BD-Live Media Center including My Commentary, Live Community Screening and other interactive features. Also included is an exclusive introduction to the upcoming Harry Potter Ultimate Editions by Daniel Radcliffe.
- SD version of the theatrical film
- Digital Copy of the theatrical film
BD Audio: English 5.1 Nearfield, English 5.1 True HD, French, Spanish
Subtitles: ESDH, French, Spanish
Running Time: 153 minutes
Rating: Rated PG for scary images, some violence, language and mild sensuality.
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