I woke up this morning and realised something terrible: IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD ON FRIDAY.

If by end of the world, you mean the end of the Harry Potter film franchise. And if by Friday, you mean Friday.

Yes, the sensationally brilliant Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (review here) is out on DVD in the next 48 hours and (here's the sad part) I'll never have the chance to write about a new Harry Potter film ever again. That means no more of this...

... or any of the other Harry Potter songs I made a few months back.

Good news, some might say, but this is a terribly emotional time for me. I even started to do a little cry when I received an email containing a new clip titled "Harry's Return to Hogwarts".

Oh well, at least I can comfort myself with a shiny copy of Daniel Radcliffe on Blu-ray/Triple Play/DVD/Digital Download this weekend. Until then, read on to see Harry return to Hogwarts - FOR THE LAST TIME.

I'm off to shed a few man tears in my bedroom.

Dear David Yates,

Meet Doctor Who: 

P.S. Loved State of Play. Can't wait for you to be back working with the BBC. 

P.P.S. Good to see you're "starting from scratch" and not continuing on the Steven Moffat or Russell T Davies story lines. 

Director: David Yates
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman
Certificate: 12A
Trailers / Potter Special

This is how you end a franchise. Not by writing "It All Ends" in large letters on the poster, but by killing off several cast members before the final reel. If you ever needed proof that Harry Potter has grown up since the sugar-coated fluff of Philosopher’s Stone, the dark carnage of Deathly Hallows Part 2 is it. You couldn’t fit in any more death if you turned all the wizards into Lemmings and set them to nuke. In short, it’s bloody brilliant.

"Harry Potter. The Boy who Lived... come to die."

It's almost impossible to get sick of hearing that same line over and over in each Harry Potter trailer since 2009. But just in case, this time it's accompanied by Voldemort yelling his face off. A lot.

Yes. the final Deathly Hallows Part 2 trailer is here and - just like the last Harry Potter trailer - it's immense. It has dragons, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman's moustache, Voldemort shouting sexy things like "NYAAA!" and "OOOARGHHH!! and it looks spectacular.

This is the shortest Harry Potter film yet at 130 minutes. Judging by the amount CGI on show, 90 minutes of that could be a full-on wizarding battle. With fighting Hogwarts statues and everything. Oh, and for those who hate Quidditch, you get to see the stadium burn to the ground too. Yeah. Screw you, Quidditch.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 is out on Friday 15th July. And if you're sad that this is the last trailer (*sob* it's almost the end), then don't worry: there's more Potter video goodness coming your way tomorrow...

Read on for the awesome trailer. 

"Only I can live forever..."

We've all heard that before in every single Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trailer there's ever been (and there were quite a few). But now there's finally a finished film to go with it, which makes Voldemort's line way more exciting. Although it's still a total bum-faced lie.

I won't bother with the full plot: it's pretty obvious by now that Harry Potter is a good wholesome little wizard while Ralph Fiennes is the kind of nutjob who would do something like split his soul into tiny pieces. And that they're both destined to kill each other or something.

Whatever, it involves magic. And if there's one thing director David Yates is good at, it's magic. (Why are you reading this? The video's down there somewhere.)

There's lots to enjoy in the new footage, from Mrs Weasley getting her fight on to a giant dragon busting out of Gringotts bank. Best of all? The distorted Hedwig's Theme at the beginning. (SERIOUSLY WHY ARE YOU STILL READING?)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (or HP 7B) is released on Friday 15th July, with the premiere on Thursday 7th July in both Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square.

Read on for the full video in HD. Then commence squeeing.

The new poster for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 has turned up online on the official Facebook page - and you can tell Warner Bros mean business.

Building up for the final showdown between The Boy Who Lived and He Who Shall Not Be Named, it's The Fight What People Have Waited For. Which explains why the Potter studio have tried to echo the poster for the greatest battle in cinema's history.

In a bold move, there's not even a title on the blood-splattered poster, so it could well be the start of a campaign for Bride Wars 2: Electric Boogaloo. Oh yes, I'm excited.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will bring about total world destruction on Friday 15th July - not at 7:15pm, as previously advertised.

So this is probably the best press release my inbox has ever seen. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is no longer in 3D. Dumbledore be praised!

Warner Bros. Pictures has made the decision to release Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 in 2D, in both conventional and IMAX theaters, as we will not have a completed 3D version of the film within our release date window. Despite everyone’s best efforts, we were unable to convert the film in its entirety and meet the highest standards of quality. We do not want to disappoint fans who have long anticipated the conclusion of this extraordinary journey, and to that end, we are releasing our film day-and-date on November 19, 2010, as planned.

After delaying Harry Potter, then 3D-ing it up, they've now decided it takes longer than 6 weeks to get a whole movie dimensionalised. Director David Yates said the decision "underscores the fact that Warner Bros. has always put quality first". Yes, this is the same studio who released Clash of the Titans.

"These are dark times there is no denying..."

And no-one's about to. Not when Bill Nighy declares it to be the case. And he's not lying either. Dark's a good word for this new trailer. Or epic. Or amazing. Or something else really, really good.

Yes, the new trailer for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One is online (after yesterday's batch of stills) and boy, is it impressive. Keeping with the spectacular scale and ridiculously over-the-top special effects, the first half of David Yates' conclusion couldn't look like a better climax for JK Rowling's series. It has Harry doing his Binary Sun pose, Ron getting all bearded and angry, and Snape saying "We have taken over the Ministry" in a wonderfully sinister voice.

There's also a shot of Dobby, some swoops over patches of countryside, and a nice spotlight on Hagrid, whose flying motorbike returns for the opening set piece - an escape from the Death Eaters, which will certainly include the novel's use of multiple Harrys as a decoy. Either that or Danny Radcliffe just really enjoys dressing up.

Dragons, lightning, snakes, wands. Screw all this typing. Read on to watch the new trailer at least four times. Then start counting down to Friday 19th November. That's when Deathly Hallows Part One hits UK cinemas. Just in case you'd forgotten or something.

Somewhere deep inside all of us is an unhinged Harry Potter fan screaming to see more of the frankly impressive-looking finale to the long-running series. That small, shrieking, hysterical part of you can now be silenced thanks to these sexy new stills from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which apparated into our inbox.

Owls! Kissing! Sidecars! Rhys Ifans! What's not to like in such a well-rounded package? You even get to see Hermione Granger get blood all over her muggle-born hands, in case Xenophilius Lovegood doesn't do it for you. Part One of the epic climax certainly continues to impress. 

Directed by David Yates, the concluding two-parter is set to become darker than the previous franchise entries (screw you, Chris Columbus). In keeping with that, Warner Bros have also produced a brand new (and quite detailed) synopsis. It runs something like this:

Part 1 begins as Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) set out on their perilous mission to track down and destroy the secret to Voldemort’s immortality and destruction—the Horcruxes. On their own, without the guidance of their professors or the protection of Professor Dumbledore, the three friends must now rely on one another more than ever. But there are Dark Forces in their midst that threaten to tear them apart. (That's "tear them apart", in case you missed that rather graphic wording.)

Meanwhile, the wizarding world has become a dangerous place for all enemies of the Dark Lord. The long-feared war has begun and Voldemort’s Death Eaters seize control of the Ministry of Magic and even Hogwarts, terrorizing and arresting anyone who might oppose them. But the one prize they still seek is the one most valuable to Voldemort: Harry Potter. The Chosen One has become the hunted one as the Death Eaters search for Harry with orders to bring him to Voldemort… alive. (Get a load of that ellipsis - they almost wrote "dead"! Can you feel the tension?)

Harry’s only hope is to find the Horcruxes before Voldemort finds him. But as he searches for clues, he uncovers an old and almost forgotten tale—the legend of the Deathly Hallows. And if the legend turns out to be true, it could give Voldemort the ultimate power he seeks. Little does Harry know that his future has already been decided by his past when, on that fateful day, he became "the Boy Who Lived". No longer just a boy, Harry Potter is drawing ever closer to the task for which he has been preparing since the day he first stepped into Hogwarts: the ultimate battle with Voldemort.

Harry Potter and the Death Hallows: Part One hits UK cinemas on Friday 19th November. To help you prepare for this self-proclaimed ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny, check out the wonderful trailer. But first read on for the sexy new stills. Phwoar. Sidecars. And Rhys Ifans.

Right after Adrien Brody got fingered for Mr Fantastic, Fox continue to push their franchise reboot forward with a hunt for a director. First out the gates is David Yates.

The Brit helmer, who just finished off Harry Potter for Warner Bros, has proven experience with fantasy franchises, and knows how to balance effects and character. But Yates is also in competition with two other candidates: Joe Carnahan and James McTeigue.

McTeigue, who's currently working on The Raven, is best known as the Wachowski Brothers' protege who directed V for Vendetta. Carnahan, meanwhile, followed up early thriller Narc with the blockbuster fun of The A-Team.

Both have the balls for some hefty action, especially now Marvel are bringing the 3D to everything, but it's hard not to root for Yates. Especially because he gave the world State of Play. Not that anyone at Fox will have seen the original BBC TV series - they're too busy sorting out rumour from fact. And throwing money at whoever will touch Fantastic Four after that Rise of the Silver Surfer malarkey.