Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Harry Potter Spoiler Alert!!! - J.K. Rowling Approved Change in Death Scene in HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS – PART 2

This July, the most successful film franchise in history comes to an end after 8 films, 10 years and over $6 billion in revenue worldwide. Given that the entire Harry Potter series has been leading up to the ultimate showdown between Harry and that evil Lord Voldemort, you can pretty much bet that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 will be fairly epic in scope (director David Yates has described it as “operatic”). If you’ve read the books, you know that more than a few characters we’ve grown to love over the series meet their end, and it looks like one of those death scenes is getting a change for the film version.

Apparently author J.K. Rowling approved a change in the death scene of one of the major characters for the film. If you’ve yet to read the final book in the series, obviously a MAJOR SPOILER lurks below. If you have, by all means hit the jump to check out the details on the change.

Again, this is a MAJOR SPOILER for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. If you don’t want to know about a hugely significant death in the film, do NOT read any further.
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Still with me? Okay, good. The death scene in question is that of Professor Snape, played by Alan Rickman in the films. Harry Potter News and Rumors nabbed this portion of an interview with art director Andrew Ackland-Snow in which he discussed said change:
“We wanted to change a bit where Snape dies. In the book, he dies on the Shrieking Shack, and we wanted to get him out from, not a conventional interior, but from that kind of box, to do it in a more dramatic atmosphere. We asked J.K. if she agreed for that to happen in there, because we hadn’t really seen it before. We made a crystal house, and you can see what happens in the boat house from there – Are you listening Harry? -, but also the school is in flames…and she loved it. Besides, it’s a very romantic place to die. Snape dies in a extremely good way, I gotta say.”
Yes, more than a bit of that statement is confusing (Why is he talking to Harry?), but the gist is that Snape’s death scene has been moved from the Shrieking Shack to some sort of crystal house. Personally, I’m relieved to hear that the filmmakers are changing up Snape’s demise. I always felt that his death in the book was surprisingly anti-climactic for such a significant character. It’s good to know that David Yates and company are giving him the kind of grandiose death scene he deserves.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 hits theaters on July 15th in 3D. Start mentally preparing yourself now. And if you missed it, be sure to check out Steve’s extensive visit to the set of Deathly Hallows last year...IFC.

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