And So Begins the Final Countdown

EPIC, right?  If you're like me (and by 'like me' I mean an alarmingly fanatic Harry Potter disciple), this is one of the moments you've been waiting for since 2001.  It's a full decade later now, and the buzz and excitement in the lead-up to these movies still never fails to set my heart aflutter.  And I am fully expecting the run-up to this movie to be the most outrageous yet.

Anyone who's seen my Tumblr page knows that I haven't been very patient in waiting for any signs of Deathly Hallows Part 2, particularly over the past few weeks.  I have my reasons:  this is typically the time when we would start getting images in heavy volume, and possibly a trailer for the forthcoming film, and up until this week there was all but silence on the part of WB.  I remembered all too well the delays in promotions for the Half-Blood Prince film, and we all know what ultimately happened there.  Since another nine month delay isn't even on the short list of things I want to deal with, I've been getting a bit antsy. 

And then Monday afternoon rolled around, and I discovered the first sign of a change in the wind.  WB has released the first official promotional poster for the film, which you can see at the top of this post.  Additionally, we're about to get hit with an onslaught of footage from the film, according to various sources.  The DVD for Deathly Hallows Part 1 drops Tuesday 11 April, and I will be at the store probably that day so that I can experience the first scene of Part 2, which is confirmed to be included in the Special Features.  Additionally, on Thursday at CinemaCon (formerly ShoWest), there will be an exclusive screening of footage from the second film.  No specifications on what will be shown, but David Heyman will be on hand, so you can bet it's going to be pretty significant.  I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that someone will be able to smuggle in a camera to capture the footage for those of us not attending the festival. 

I think it's safe to say that the next couple of weeks will mark an escalation in the fandom, and the beginning of the ultimate hype in the lead up to HP's final onscreen adventure.  I'm already counting down the days until July 15th, but I'm more excited for the moment when everyone else starts to anticipate it alongside me.