As you've possibly heard by now, the book Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is scheduled for release on June 21, 2003 (the same weekend as The Hulk, BTW). According to the official press release, it weighs in at a whopping 255,000 words, which, assuming that page lengths are approximately equal to those of The Goblet of Fire, is something like 980 pages long. If the film version clocks in at thirty seconds per page, as the previous ones have, we're looking at an adaptation of over six hours in length.

I have a hunch that Chris Columbus bailed out as director of the series because he didn't relish the thought of having to pare down the increasingly lengthly books that follow, and thus face the wrath of rabid Potter fans (who, if you'll remember correctly, were once incensed that Harry Potter's scar was slightly to the center of his forehead in the movies, rather than straight down the center as in the illustrations). I also predict that the film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be the first installment to meet with widespread popular disappointment, because it's actually going to be directed by an interesting and ambitious director (Alfonso Cuaron), and odds are will require a good number of cuts from the plot.