Warner Bros. has decided to turn J.K. Rowling's seventh and final Harry Potter book, the 784-page Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two feature films that will be released six months apart.  David Yates will direct the two films, which will be known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part II and which will open in November 2010 and May 2011 respectively.

 

Yates is also directing the sixth film in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is set to open this November (see "Best in Shows 2008, Part II").  The first five Harry Potter films have earned an astounding total of $4.48 billion at the worldwide box office and spurred huge sales of tie-in merchandise, so it's no surprise that Warner Bros. is opting for eight Harry Potter films instead of seven, especially considering the built-in audience for Deathly Hallows, which sold over 11 million copies during its first 24 hours of release.