Heyman speaks HBP and DH cut scenes.

As you know, Half-Blood Prince screenings were recently held in Chicago, which has given fans an idea what to expect come July 2009. Many were shocked to see the omission of the Battle at Hogwarts and Dumbledore's funeral. Can you explain why these scenes were left out?

DAVID HEYMAN: The reason why we left out the Battle at Hogwarts is because we have a battle at Hogwarts in the Seventh film and we are avoiding repetition. Dumbledore’s funeral was something that I really loved and is a fantastic part of the book and part of me would have loved it in the film. But we decided that while we loved it that what we came up with was the right ending for the film that we had made.

Is it possible that given the delay in release, that Half-Blood Prince may be tweaked, according to the reactions from the screenings?

DAVID HEYMAN: Oh absolutely! The reason for a screening such as the one in Chicago is to give us information about any areas of confusion or pace or any issues that may arise, and work on them. So over the last couple of weeks, we have been working incredibly hard on the cut of the film and we will make changes to improve it. It is something that we have done with every film in the Harry Potter series.

Due to the release date change for Half-Blood Prince to next year, the premieres scheduled for New York and London were cancelled. Since Dan Radcliffe will no longer be doing Equus in New York in July 2009, are you still planning to hold the US premiere there; and will the London premiere still include the royal family and screenings for fans?

DAVID HEYMAN: We have not yet had those discussions. We suspect that there will be a premiere in New York and one in London.