HBP push back decision spawned “3 to 4 weeks ago”

In an article reporting on how Entertainment Weekly posted their fall preview with Half-Blood Prince, The Canadian Press spoke with Dan Feldman, who is Head of Distribution at Warner Brothers. Feldman reveals the timeline of the decision:

The studio had been mulling the date change for three or four weeks, “but it really didn't kind of get on the front-burner until sometime within the last seven days,” Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. head of distribution, said Sunday.

Entertainment Weekly's “deadline must have been earlier than the decision, than when we started to get serious about making the decision,” Fellman said.

WB's press release, revealing that Half-Blood Prince will be opening on July 17th, 2009, can be read right here.