Harry Potter Films Being Converted to 3D on Blu-Ray

2 years ago by Sandy Schaefer

Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince movies 3D Blu-ray

Warner Bros. may have abandoned its plan to give the seventh Harry Potter film a 3D theatrical release next month, but that hasn’t stopped the studio from deciding to go ahead and convert previous entries in the franchise to the third dimension.

Both Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince, the fifth and sixth Harry Potter movies, respectively, are going to be released in 3D Blu-ray in the near future.

Deathly Hallows director David Yates also helmed both Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, but he is currently busy with post-production work on the final Harry Potter film and will not turn his attention to the stereoscopic conversion process for the aforementioned two pics until next year. Warner Bros. has not yet ruled out releasing Part 1 of Deathly Hallows in 3D for a brief theatrical run just before Part 2 arrives next summer, so Yate’s work on the franchise looks to be far from over at this point.

There’s no word yet on whether the first four Harry Potter movies will eventually be released in the 3D Blu-ray format as well, though that would require the participation of the other three directors who have worked on the boy wizard franchise – Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuarón, and Mike Newell.

Harry Potter movies converted to 3D Blu-ray

The main characters of 'Harry Potter' - then and now.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson have grown up alongside their onscreen counterparts (Harry, Ron, and Hermione) throughout the course of making the Harry Potter series. The films reflect that growth and – like the original novels they are based on – became increasingly dark, complex, and adult in tone with each new chapter. That goes for the visual FX and overall design of the Harry Potter movies as well, which begs the question: Do the first four entries really stand to benefit from being converted to 3D?

Cuarón’s entry – Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban – in particular used the kind of dynamic camerawork and movement that would look good in 3D – this was also the case, albeit to a lesser degree, for Newell’s film, Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire. The same goes for all of Yates’ Harry Potter movies, but no so much for those directed by Columbus.

Early prediction? Don’t be surprised if Warner Bros. releases an all-encompassing 3D Blu-ray collection of the Harry Potter movies sometime in the next couple of years.

Source: Variety

Tags: harry potter