Harry Potter 6 director named

Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Journalist)

For the first time since the first two installments of series, the same director will direct back-to-back installments of the “Harry Potter” franchise.

David Yates, the director of the upcoming “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” will return to the director’s chair for the sixth installment “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.”

“I am doing “Half-Blood Prince”, and I’m doing it because I love the world, I love the characters,” the BAFTA-winning director said in an interview. “I think I have more business with this world and these characters.”

Yates was brought on to the franchise to helm “Phoenix”, which has political overtones and deals in part with a rebellion at Hogwarts led by Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint).

“I’ve made a kind of tonal shift with the fifth film, which I want to continue and develop into the sixth film,” Yates said. “And I can see the fifth story evolving into the sixth story in a really interesting way. So I’m on a journey with this material and this world, and I’m keen to complete it.”

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” opens in July and pre-production has begun on “The Half-Blood Prince” with a projected release date of November 2008.