The Morning Roundup: Harry Potter 6 Delayed, Valkyrie Bumped Up, Batman Fan Poster

Written by: Tony Lazlo, CC2K Staff Writer

This morning's roundup brings news about Harry Potter and Tom Cruise, as well as a stalwart mystery author who is bringing his most beloved series to a close.

• Warner Bros. has delayed the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince until next summer, specifically July 17, 2009. That'll put it up against Land of the Lost. The release dates for the seventh and eighth Potter films are unaffected.

• Universal has snagged the rights to Robert Jordan's epic Wheel of Time series of fantasy novels.

• In the world of books, mystery author Andrew Vachss spends his days defending children in the courtroom, and by night he writes some of the grittiest and most galvanizing crime fiction out there. He's best known for the Burke series, which follows the title character – a justice-dealer who occupies a demilitarized zone somewhere between mercenary, detective and crusader – as he battles the barrel-bottom sludge of New York, Portland and parts between. His final Burke novel, Another Life, drops on Dec. 30.

The whisper-stream will be a little quieter.

• Bryan Singer's much-maligned and oft-delayed WWII drama Valkyrie will hit theaters this year – Dec. 26, 2008. Once again, here's the trailer:

• Liam Neeson and Orlando Bloom are set for a drama set in Sarajevo.

• Nice: A transgender model will be competing on the next cycle of America's Next Top Model.

• Here's a fun one: A fan made a great teaser poster for a fictitious new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Returns. Check it out:

If I could offer a critique to the anonymous designer: I don't think Warner Bros. would opt for the same design aesthetic as The Dark Knight, which built its promotional campaign around the Joker's scribblings and a slate-gray color scheme. If they were to use the Riddler, it's likely the filmmakers would incorporate another color, probably green.

That said, this is a very impressive poster. It's 100 percent convincing, and I love the tattoos on the Riddler's hands and the scraps of riddles around his desk. Great work.

• I guess Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black have another comedy pilot on the way.

• The new trailer for the upcoming Ridley Scott action flick Body of Lies has hit: