( dpa ) - "Harry Potter" fans are to get double the fun before the movie series comes to an end.
The Warner Bros movie studio plans to film the seventh and final book in the series about the boy wizard in two parts, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I" is to be released in November 2010 and "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II" is to come out in May 2011, producer David Heyman told the Times in a story datelined from Watford, England, where the sixth instalment is now being filmed.
After the first five films pulled in 4.5 billion dollars worldwide, Heyman told the Times that he worried that some observers would see the decision to make the final book into two movies as a crass money-making move.
"I swear to you it was born out of purely creative reasons," Heyman was quoted as saying.
Both he and lead actor Daniel Radcliffe, 18, said that while screenwriters were able to remove subplots from previous editions, the same could not be said for "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
"I think it's the only way you can do it without cutting out a huge portion of the book," Radcliffe told the Times. "... The seventh book doesn't really have any subplots. It's one driving, pounding story from the word go."
David Yates is to direct both films after heading up the filming of both 2007's "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" and the sixth film, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," which is due out November 21.
Screenwriter Steve Kloves is also to return to write the final two films based on the novels by JK Rowling, which would make him the author of seven of the eight "Harry Potter" scripts.
The final two movies are to be filmed at the same time.