On two separate occasions the Harry Potter producers (David Heyman and David Barron) and Daniel Radcliffehave let us in on some Deathly Hallows news.

The Davids say:

“We won’t start filming [Deathly Hallows] ’til February next year. So it hasn’t really gone bananas yet. We’ve got thoughts [on who will direct], and I’m sure something will be announced in the not-too-distant future.”

The only negative of splitting the book into two films, says Barron, “is that people could possibly perceive it as being one last chance at cashing in. But the real positive, if we were to do that, would be that we wouldn’t have quite the battle we always have of ‘How do you compress all that book into just over two hours of screen time?’

While Daniel states:

“I have no idea how that rumour started or where it came from. It’s not true. How’s that for a definitive answer?  It’s absolute rubbish that Spielberg is directing the final film. It’s not true. There’s absolutely no foundation in that at all.”

On the subject of the sixth movie, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, he added: “We’re getting through it alright. I’m really enjoying it. We’re about six months in and we’ve only got four more to go.”