Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
UK theatrical release poster
Directed by	David Yates
Screenplay by	Steve Kloves
Starring	Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Emma Watson Jim Broadbent Helena Bonham Carter Robbie Coltrane Warwick Davis Michael Gambon Alan Rickman Maggie Smith Timothy Spall David Thewlis Julie Walters
Music by	Nicholas Hooper
Cinematography	Bruno Delbonnel
Editing by	Mark Day
Studio	Warner Bros. Pictures Heyday Films
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	7 July 2009 (2009-07-07) (London) 15 July 2009 (2009-07-15) (United Kingdom and United States)
Running time	153 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$250 million
Money made	$934.3 million

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a 2009 fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on J. K. Rowling's 2005 novel of the same name. The film, which is the sixth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, was written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman and David Barron. The story follows Harry Potter's sixth year at Hogwarts as he receives a mysterious textbook, falls in love, and attempts to retrieve a memory that holds the key to Lord Voldemort's downfall.

The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and is followed by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. Filming began on 24 September 2007, leading to the film's worldwide cinematic release on 15 July 2009, one day short of the fourth anniversary of the corresponding novel's release. With an estimated budget of $250 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made and the most expensive film in the Harry Potter film series. The film was simultaneously released in regular cinemas and IMAX 3D everywhere except North America, where its IMAX release was delayed for two weeks.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince premiered in London on 7 July 2009 and was released theatrically worldwide on 15 July. The film was a major commercial success, breaking the record for the biggest single-day worldwide gross. In five days the film made $394 million, breaking the record for highest five-day worldwide gross. With a total gross of $934 million, it became the eighth-highest-grossing film of all time and 2009's second-highest-grossing film (behind Avatar). It is the fifth-highest-grossing film in the franchise.

The film received positive reviews, with praise for Yates's direction, the performances, Delbonnel's cinematography, Nicholas Hooper's musical score, and "emotionally satisfying" story. The film was nominated at the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and the 63rd British Academy Film Awards for Best Special Visual Effects and Best Production Design.

Plot
Cast
Differences from the book
Distribution
Images for kids
See also

Plot

Lord Voldemort tightens his grip on the wizarding and Muggle worlds: his Death Eaters kidnap Garrick Ollivander, and destroy the Millennium Bridge. When Lucius Malfoy is sent to Azkaban, Voldemort chooses Draco to carry out a secret mission at Hogwarts. Draco's mother Narcissa and aunt Bellatrix Lestrange seek out Severus Snape, who claims to be a mole within the Order of the Phoenix. Snape makes an Unbreakable Vow with Narcissa to protect Draco and fulfill his assignment if he fails.

Harry Potter accompanies Albus Dumbledore to persuade former Potions professor Horace Slughorn to return to Hogwarts. At the Burrow, Harry reunites with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They visit Fred and George Weasley's new joke shop in Diagon Alley and see Draco enter Knockturn Alley with a group of Death Eaters, including Fenrir Greyback. Harry believes Voldemort has made Draco a Death Eater, but Ron and Hermione are sceptical. On the Hogwarts Express, Harry hides in the Slytherin carriage using his Invisibility Cloak, but is spotted and petrified by Malfoy, before being saved by Luna Lovegood.

Harry discovers his borrowed Potions textbook is filled with helpful notes and spells left by the "Half-Blood Prince", and uses the book to excel in class and impress Slughorn, winning a Liquid Luck potion. Ron becomes Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and begins dating Lavender Brown, upsetting Hermione. Harry consoles Hermione, admitting to his own feelings for Ron's younger sister, Ginny. Harry spends the Christmas holidays with the Weasleys, and his suspicions about Draco are dismissed by the Order, but Arthur Weasley reveals that the Malfoys may have been interested in a Vanishing Cabinet. Bellatrix and Greyback attack the Burrow, and Harry saves Ginny before the Order arrives and fights off the Death Eaters.

At Hogwarts, Dumbledore asks Harry to retrieve a memory of Voldemort from Slughorn. After Ron accidentally ingests a love potion intended for Harry, Harry cures him with Slughorn's help. The trio celebrate with mead Slughorn intended to gift to Dumbledore, but Ron is poisoned, forcing Harry to save his life. Ron murmurs Hermione's name while recovering in the infirmary, causing Lavender to end their relationship. Harry confronts Draco about the poisoned mead and a cursed necklace that nearly killed another student, and they duel. Harry uses one of the Half-Blood Prince's curses to severely injure Malfoy, who is saved by Snape. Fearing the book contains more Dark Magic, Ginny and Harry hide it in the Room of Requirement and share their first kiss.

Harry uses his Liquid Luck potion to convince Slughorn to surrender the memory Dumbledore needs. Viewing the memory with Dumbledore, Harry learns Voldemort wanted information about Horcruxes, magical objects containing pieces of a wizard's soul as a form of immortality. Dumbledore concludes that Voldemort divided his soul into six Horcruxes, two of which have been destroyed: Tom Riddle's diary and Marvolo Gaunt's ring. They travel to a cave where Harry aids Dumbledore in drinking a potion that hides another Horcrux, Slytherin's locket.

A weakened Dumbledore defends them from Inferi and apparates back to Hogwarts, where Bellatrix, Greyback, and other Death Eaters enter through the Vanishing Cabinet in the Room of Requirement, which Draco connected to the one in Knockturn Alley. As Harry hides, Draco appears and disarms the headmaster, revealing he was chosen by Voldemort to kill Dumbledore, but Draco hesitates. Snape arrives, and casts the killing curse on Dumbledore. As the Death Eaters escape, Snape reveals that he is the Half-Blood Prince.

As Hogwarts students and staff mourn Dumbledore's death, Harry reveals to Ron and Hermione that the locket was a fake, containing a message from "R.A.B.", who stole the real Horcrux to destroy. Harry, Ron, and Hermione decide to forgo their final year at Hogwarts in order to track down the remaining Horcruxes.

Cast

For more details, see List of Harry Potter cast members

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter: A 16-year-old British wizard who now enters his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley: One of Harry's two best friends.
Emma Watson as Hermione Granger: One of Harry's two best friends.
Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange: One of Voldemort's principal Death Eaters and Draco Malfoy's aunt.
Jim Broadbent as Horace Slughorn: The newly appointed Potions master who held the position before.
Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid: The Hogwarts gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts.
Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick: The Charms master and head of Ravenclaw.
Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy: Harry's rival and recipient of Voldemort's secret mission.
Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore: The headmaster of Hogwarts.
Alan Rickman as Severus Snape: The former Potions master, current Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and head of Slytherin.
Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall: The Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher, deputy headmistress and head of Gryffindor.
Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew: The Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. Pettigrew has no lines in this film, but appears as a servant at Snape's house.
David Thewlis as Remus Lupin: A member of the Order of the Phoenix and Harry's ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Julie Walters as Molly Weasley: The Weasley matriarch and a mother figure to Harry.

Differences from the book

While at the middle of the series in length, the film Half-Blood Prince did add or change events in the literary canon. The book begins with a scene involving the Muggle Prime Minister. Yates and his crew debated over this scene, as well as the character Rufus Scrimgeour, but gave up the beginning of the movie to events described but not seen in the book. Yates thought it would give the audience a feel for what the Death Eaters were doing if they showed the collapse of the Millennium Bridge rather than simply describe it (as was done with the Brockdale Bridge in the book). As with Goblet of Fire, the Dursleys were cut, which Steve Kloves did to "break the pattern". Further background of Tom Riddle was removed, such as the Gaunts because they felt it more important to concentrate on Riddle as a young boy, and an additional action scene at the Burrow was added to keep with the tone of the franchise. Yates felt that they needed "an injection of jeopardy and danger" and that without it there was too much comedy and lightness. A small battle scene at Hogwarts which happened during the end of the book was also cut; Heyman commented that it was removed to "[avoid] repetition" with the forthcoming adaptation of the Battle of Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows. Dumbledore's funeral was removed as it was believed it did not fit with the rest of the film.