Agree. I'd like to see Cuaron have another go at it.

Del Toro directing two movies. Sounds perfect to me.

You could fade to black when

Sure, offer it to him, but only under the condition that he knows it's not a real offer and just a formality so they can go and get a good director.

Update: Its official

Final 'Harry Potter' book will spawn two movies- L.A. Times

WATFORD, England -- It's official: Eight will be the magic number for the "Harry Potter" film franchise.

After months of rumors, Warner Bros. and the producers of the massively successful movies will announce Thursday that they plan to split "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," J.K. Rowling's seventh and final "Potter" novel, into two blockbuster films -- one to be released in November 2010 and the second in May 2011.

The films will be titled, simply, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II," according to producer David Heyman. Director David Yates, who returned for his second tour of Potter duty with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" and is quite popular with the cast, will direct both "Deathly Hallows" films, which will be filmed concurrently. Screenwriter Steve Kloves also returns and, by completion of the franchise, will have written seven of the eight films.

One devoted "Potter" reader that is especially happy to hear the news is Daniel Radcliffe, the 18-year-old actor who plays the title character in the wizardry epic.

Some cynics will see the move as simply doubling the box-office payday, but Radcliffe told The Times that the split is purely in service of the story.

"I think it's the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book," Radcliffe said recently during a break on the set of "Half-Blood Prince," the sixth "Potter" film, which is due in theaters on Nov. 21. "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."

Producer David Heyman said the decision was made with some anxiety and only after considerable deliberations. The producer joked that "while my wife and Warner Brothers were pleased" to hear that the Potter movie magic will continue into the next decade, he himself fretted that the cynical observers would see the decision as a purely mercenary move.

"I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons," Heyman said during an interview in a converted airplane factory outside London that has been home base to all of the "Potter" productions. "Unlike every other book, you cannot remove elements of this book. You can remove scenes of Ron playing quidditch from the fifth book, and you can remove Hermione and S.P.E.W. [Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare] and those subplots . . . but with the seventh, that can't be done."

Heyman said he approached Rowling with some trepidation about the strategy but found that she signed off on its logic rather quickly. "I went to Jo and she was cool with it," Heyman said, "and that was quite a relief."

Rowling has also been a more frequent visitor to the sixth movie's set than with previous installments. One big reason is that she is no longer busy trying to finish the "next" Potter book; she walked away from her signature character in July 2007, when the climactic "Deathly Hallows" hit stores, and continued the history-making ways of the series by selling 11 million copies during its first 24 hours on shelves.

The filming of "Half-Blood Prince" began in September, and Radcliffe said "it's been brilliant." He added: "It's also, I think, the funniest of the films so far."

The "Potter" films have pulled in a staggering $4.5 billion at the box office worldwide. Heyman said now that the "Potter" team knows they can split "Deathly Hollows" in half, the next challenge is figuring out the division.

As Heyman put it: "The question will be, where do you break it? And how do you make them one but two separate and distinct stories? Do you break it with a moment of suspense or one of resolution? These are the interesting challenges. But each book has presented its challenges."

Warner Bros. Chairman Alan Horn and Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, are expected to discuss the new plans for "Potter" on Thursday during a presentation at ShoWest, the convention of movie exhibitors in Las Vegas.

-Damn! there goes my wish to have Guilermo Del Torro to direct. What the hells up with David Yates directing again? That'll be four potter films he gets to direct.

This is great news.

I just watched Order of the Phoenix and was really disappointed. It felt like a whole movie that's just a highlight reel.

Now that WB has confirmed the split into two movies, I hope they do each movie at about 150-165 minutes long (2.5-2.75 hours). That way, they can keep in as many of the very complicated plot points in the novel.

This HP news kicks ass.

Del Toro would absolutely

Disappointing, I was hoping they would get somebody like Spielberg since Del Toro went off to do the Hobbit. Or have Alfonso Cuarón come back to direct the last two.

Um...NO. I hope they DO NOT let that man anywhere near the final movie. He already ruined Azkaban. He doesn't need to ruin the last book.

I think Yates' turn on Order of the Phoenix was excellent, so I have nothing against him doing the final three books (and four movies). Obviously he's built a rapport with the cast and crew, which I think will enrich the next three movies. Aside from Cuaron, he's my favorite director on the series.

I have to disagree. Azkaban was my very favourite of the films this far.

credit goes to BK on neogaf:

Here is an idea for what to name them:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2: The Quest for More Money

Very disappointing on two fronts. Splitting it is a bad idea. The Harry Potter stories are single protagonist. There isn't enough story to carry it for around five hours. If they must do this then hopefully they'll do multiple points of view. I think it would be interesting to show things like what Ginny, Neville, and Luna are doing at the Snape run school. Plus, it would be a way to keep those characters in the public mind. The problem is of course that it would make the movie different than the others. They'll have plenty of time for the Dumbledore back story now, which I figured would get largely cut.

Second, while I liked OOTP, I really wished that would have gone back to at least offer to Cuaron. He expressed interest in doing it in the past, and his movie is easily the best in the series (it's not my favorite, but it's the best). Plus, Cuaron would have made them put it in one movie.

I used to be hesitant about this, but I think it's actually a good idea. The last book was like a more complex version of Goblet of Fire and that was a bitch of a movie to make. Order of the Phoenix was easier because there was a lot of stuff that was easy to cut out and Half-Blood Prince is the simplest plot since Azkaban, so it shouldn't have been too difficult.

I'm actually worried about the HBP movie b/c I thought it was a plot heavy book, and it appears they are keeping too much. Spending time on Ron's Quidditch foibles and the Won-won storyline seems to be a very distracting waste of time that could be better used on the Harry love story subplot (remember they'll basically have to build Ginny from scratch...she hasn't had much time in the previous movies) or the comings/goings of Snape and Malfoy subplot.

As for the break point...

bah... i prefer when they bring in new directors, and i didn't care for yates' ootp. splitting dh into two movies is bullshit. dh can be distilled down to 2 hrs easily. just get rid of all that popping around crap, and maybe limit the number of horathingies needed to be destroyed. simple.

I don't get this point. The story had already been split into 7 different books, so where's the harm in splitting one of the books?

Who says each film has to be 2 1/2 hours? Since they're making two films, they won't have to cram a whole book's storyline into one film, meaning each film could be shorter.

I still prefer--

Need to re-read the book again. Happy that they will be splitting the last one up and giving the final book it's just due.

By the time they finish these movies, Emma Watson will be in menopause and Daniel Radcliffe will be applying for his AARP card.

Expecting a rough two and half years for them, huh?

I guess this is good news. I've always been a casual HP fan. I've never read any of the books and I've thought all of the films were good, but not great. I'm sure with Yates at the helm I'll feel the same about the rest forthcoming in the series. I guess that's better than not being sure about someone new they might have chosen.

When they finish shooting in presumably 2010 Daniel Radcliffe will be 21 playing 17 (and they'll probably be done with shooting before he turns 21) and Emma Watson will be 20 playing 18. Those age differences shouldn't bother anyone who's ever seen any TV show or movie set in a HS.

The biggest age difference for the "kids" will be Tom Felton who'll be 23.