Sorry, Harry Potter fans, but it looks like you'll have to wait even longer for the next film installment of this series. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Bros. has pushed back the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November 21 of this year to July 17, 2009.

Warner president Alan Horn said in his statement that the writers strike was the main cause for the release date shift.

"Like every other studio, we are still feeling the repercussions of the writers strike, which impacted the readiness of scripts for other films-changing the competitive landscape for 2009 and offering new windows of opportunity that we wanted to take advantage of," he said. "We agreed the best strategy was to move Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to July, where it perfectly fills the gap for a major tent pole release for mid-summer."

According to the studio, the post-production work for the film, directed by David Yates, is being completed on time and also that the studio still plans to split the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into two films.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released July 15th, 2009 and stars Daniel Radcliffe, Michael Gambon, Dave Legeno, Elarica Gallacher, Jim Broadbent, Geraldine Somerville, Bonnie Wright, Julie Walters. The film is directed by David Yates.