Harry Potter and the Summer of Blockbusters

This is not strictly a movie blog entry, but I'm writing it anyway.

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the last 6 months, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth book in the excellent series by J.K. Rowling, is hitting theaters in July 11, only 10 days before Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book, is published on July 21.

FINALLY!!!!

Yes, I have been waiting for July to come for quite some time. To prepare myself for both the movie and the book, I've been rereading and rewatching the books and movies already released. It is going to be exciting to see what has been kept in the movie, and what happens to Voldemort in the final book.

The fifth book is the longest of the series so far, and therefore a lot of material is going to hit the chopping block. With the exception of Prisoner of Azkaban, which I felt cut out too much of the book in leaving out the story behind the Mauraders, the movies have done an excellent job of abbreviating the story and keeping the essentials that make the books incredible draws. From the clips and previews, it appears the new director, David Yates, has done a wonderful job at continuing the atmosphere and setting established so well by Alphonso Cuaron and Mike Newell. As with all the Potter movies so far, this one is set up to be another blockbuster sensation.

And the excitement continues ten days later with the release of Deathly Hallows!

Will Harry die? I'm in the camp that says he won't. I agree with several people, including Emerson Spartz of Mugglenet.com that believe Jo wouldn't do that to us. As I recently read online, it would be a marketing disaster to kill Harry with 2 movies left to make! The hope for Harry's survival is something that, as far as I can tell, has no basis in canon, since Jo has given clues that could indicate either end, but I am going to stubbornly adhere to it at this point, because it really would be cruel to kill Harry off, and I cannot imagine Jo as a cruel person, marketing motives aside. Dumbledore's demise I expected, though I had thought it would happen at the beginning or middle of the last book. Sirius shocked me and shook my faith for a few months; however, I am still holding out hope, however misguided, that Harry will survive.

Who WILL die? Hmmmmm.... that's a trickier question. My money is on Neville Longbottom. I think he will come into his own, and stand up to Voldemort or perhaps Bellatrix Lestrange, and pay the ultimate price. For the second, I'm going to put my money on Severus Snape. There is no way he will survive, having alienated most of the wizarding world, but I think he will die in such a way as to vindicate himself. Jo has often stated that there is more to Snape than meets the eye, and his betrayal in HBP was just tricky enough that you cannot be completely sure whose interests Snape is really serving.

I've already reserved my book and will be attending a midnight release party. I'm planning to be up reading the book all night, if necessary, and I'm going to love every minute of it. I'm also planning, the minute I get my hands on it, to read the very last page to see whether or not my hunches are right on, or SOL.