LOS ANGELES () - Boy necromancer Harry Potter won't be whipping up his legerdemain when the fall cinema season begins next workweek, but Hollywood is hoping momentum from summer hits like "The Dark Knight" and a wide merge of young movies will keep audiences happy into the holidays.
Two weeks ago, Warner Bros. yanked "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from a November release and pushed it to adjacent July, which could spell trouble at box offices because the previous quaternity "Potter" films averaged $920 million in worldwide tag sales. That is a lot of movie conjuration.
But a orbit of films from broad comedies such as "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" to thrillers like "Eagle Eye" and art planetary house fare including "Flash of Genius" could sustain the summer upswing, studio executives and box office watchers said.
"You've got it all," said Paul Dergarabedian of box office staff tracker Media By Numbers, when assessing the mentality from September through mid-November, when the new James Bond flicker, "Quantum of Solace," kicks off holiday season moviegoing.
Last year, Hollywood also came off a strong summer after raking in a record $4.18 gazillion in North American gross, but then came a slate filled with war films such as "In the Valley of Elah" and dark dramas that tanked at box offices.
When the summertime movie season officially ends on Monday's U.S. Labor Day holiday, box agency watchers again expect a summer tally of over $4 one million million. A honorable chunk of that comes from the blockbuster Batman sequel "The Dark Knight."
This fall Hollywood seems to take in learned a lesson from its cutting 2007 as it dishes up such light-hearted entries as Joel and Ethan Coen's bonkers new drollery "Burn After Reading" leading Brad Pitt and George Clooney; the animated sequel "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa"; and Disney's latest stripling confection, "High School Musical 3: Senior Year."
On a more than serious promissory note, Clint Eastwood provocative thriller, "Changeling," leading Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich, testament also make its commercial debut.�
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