Hermione Sticking With Harry Potter Franchise, Despite Reports to the Contrary

I was working on a post about Emma Watson leaving the Harry Potter franchise, when I learned that this news is not true. From Manchester.com:

Harry Potter will be accompanied by long-time friend Hermione Granger on his final confrontations, despite reports the actress is considering leaving the films. . . .

However, Warner Bros today issued a statement saying they expected the British actress would continue working on the phenomenally successful films.

"We're extremely confident that Emma will be back for films six and seven," a spokesperson for the film studio said.

I first learned of the Hermione-is-leaving rumor from Katherine Coble, who adds:

As much as I love Harry Potter, I think the movies are actually doing the books a great disservice. As each book gets longer and more complicated, the corresponding films have more widely-gaping plot holes and greater contrivances. . . . They aren’t good bookplates because they don’t match the books and they aren’t good movies because they leave so much necessary narration on the cutting room floor in exchange for long and boring sequences with flying things–hippogriffs over lakes and dragons over Hogwarts.

I think that Kat's criticism is valid. My first thought after seeing the Prisoner of Azkaban movie was, "How could anybody follow that if they hadn't read the book?" On the other hand, I like the movies. I really like them. I own them all. I love the visuals, the cast, the music, and the overall experience. Sure, the books are much better, but I can get excited about the movies too.