Sad News From IMAX
We know you’ve been waiting with baited breath and keeping your fingers crossed as hard as we have. Late yesterday we were told, most unfortunately, that IMAX was unable to secure a pre-screening of the print of “Half-Blood Prince.”

We’re heartbroken. Please understand that IMAX and WB did everything in their power to try to make this happen for us. The problem did not lie with them in any way, and it came right down to the wire with the negotiation process. When push came to shove, however, Paramount simply refused to work out a deal.

We are as upset and angry as you are surely feeling right now. But! The important thing to remember is that we will STILL have a “Half-Blood Prince” showing - all together, all united by our love of the story.

We hedged our bets a couple weeks ago and purchased tickets to the regular screen's 11:30 PM show. This means that we'll move forward with our plans for the line party, starting around 9:30 PM, and the doors will open a few minutes after 11:00 PM. You can still pick up your tickets at the Azkatraz Booking Office, which will be in the Embarcadero on the 3rd floor Thursday from noon to 6 pm, and at the Metreon itself beginning at 10:00 PM until about 11:15. If your travel plans preclude you getting to the theatre before 11, please write to the registrar and we will determine whether we can resell your tickets. For those of you picking them up, you will also receive a small refund (the difference between the IMAX price and the regular admission price) at that time.

Furthermore, IMAX is so cool that they have given us some consolation gifts and a few special prizes, which we'll be using as door prizes for the line party. So come ready to test your knowledge of Potter and your luck! Ten people will win a pair of complimentary IMAX tickets that they can use anywhere in the U.S. once the IMAX prints are released nationwide.

Meanwhile, if you simply can't contain your indignation at the way Paramount has forced IMAX and WB to disappoint us, we will also have letters prepared - addressed and pre-printed - for you to take, add your own comments, sign, and send to the appropriate office at their studios, to let them know just how this powerful bloc of fans responds to having our hopes dashed like this. Please take them when you get your tickets - and help us make the fans' voices be heard so that next time something like this comes up, we won't get the same treatment.


But for now, let’s put this unfortunate outcome behind us, and focus on the important fact that we can make plans! We can get excited for the movie! We will all see it together!


You know what else usually cheers me up? Shopping! And Barnes & Noble has graciously extended the bookfair (# 581066) through Friday, July 10, so that you can use it to purchase paperback copies of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” among other titles, for the Prisoners’ Literature Project, or for yourselves! Still need an airplane book? Go to Barnes & Noble and give them the flyer or the bookfair # 581066 to get your purchase applied to the HPEF bookfair and help a worthy charity supply incarcerated prisoners with quality reading material. Dictionaries, best-sellers, and other titles are also very welcome and in demand for the Project. Go here: bookfair page for more information about the bookfair and the Prisoners’ Literature Project.

Look for a new Informant before the end of the week, and we’ll see you in 10 days!