It's the kind of math even a muggle can appreciate.
If the climatic Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows gets split into two films, as has been reported this week in the UK press, it will probably mean an extra $1 billion in worldwide box office for Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling's empire.
Given this, you may wonder why they didn't just start dividing the books up into two and three parts apiece in the first place?
The answer is, because it's a gamble that fizzles as often as it pays off. For every Lord of the Rings or Kill Bill -- Quentin Tarantino's opus wasn't halved until it ran wildly over-budget and over-schedule -- there's a Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions or Back to the Future 2 and 3.
Imagine, for example, if the second and third instalments of The Golden Compass trilogy had already been shot. Yet as with all risks, the rewards are often irresistible.
For filmmakers, it means telling their story on a canvas that's twice the size. For studios, it means being able to shoot double the product without having to re-assemble actors, director or crew members.
Still, precious few do it.
Even Fox wouldn't pull the trigger on X-Men 3 and 4, which Bryan Singer wanted to make before he bailed for Superman Returns instead.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- at least the first part -- should be in theatres by 2010. It will be around that time, as well, that Peter Jackson will return to Middle-earth (producing, not directing) with a set of back-to-back blockbusters of his own -- the first, an adaptation of The Hobbit and the second, a narrative bridge between The Hobbit and the Oscar-winning LOTR trilogy.
BLOOD LINES: Poor John C. Reilly. Not only did he end up headlining a rare Judd Apatow flop -- the musical biopic spoof Walk Hard -- but he also talked himself out of one of the year's top Oscar contenders, There Will Be Blood.
The drama stars Daniel Day-Lewis as an oil prospector in the early 1900s.
"None of Paul's regulars are in that one," says Reilly, who appeared in Anderson's Hard Eight, Boogie Nights and Magnolia.
"I told him when he was casting, I said, 'Paul, don't put me in there because we're friends. If you got a spot for me, then great and if not, then do what's best for the movie.'"
On the surface, Reilly's fortune appears to be changing for the better already now that sultry Salma Hayek just signed to star with him in Cirque du Freak. Then again, maybe it's not -- since she's playing a bearded lady.
KNOCK WORST: Let others count down the minutes to Tuesday's Oscar noms. For fans of what Hollywood does best -- crap! -- tomorrow is the red-letter day.
That's when the organizers of the annual Golden Raspberry Awards will announce their nominees for the worst of everything in 2007.
And unlike the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences, the Razzies organizers don't much care whether the Writers Guild strike will prevent big stars from showing up to their event on Oscar weekend at Hollywood's Ivar theatre.
That's because in the entire history of the event, only two stars have ever shown up to accept their dishonour -- Tom Green (Freddie Got Fingered) and Halle Berry (Catwoman). Unlike the Oscars, the Razzies really are about the movies.
Who'll be centred out as the worst this year? Well, the Razzies website has the poster from Good Luck Chuck as a graphic for their announcement info.
Expect worst actor and actress nods to Dane Cook (is it too early to give him a career crap award?) and Jessica Alba.
As for the rest? Well, ugly is in the eye of the beholder, but I believe the Razzies would be remiss to miss Delta Farce (it could be two noms in a row for Larry The Cable Guy), Norbit, Epic Movie, Perfect Stranger (could Halle be back?), Are We Done Yet? (it's official, Urkel now has more gangsta cred than Ice Cube), The Comebacks and I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry.
