Potter Pushed to Summer '09

In a move know only to the people over at WB, the newest Harry Potter movie is being pushed from November '08 to July '09. /Film tells us:

Warner Bros has just announced that they are moving Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from November 21st 2008, back to July 17th 2009. The reasons given are that the summer season is a more ideal window for for a family tent pole release, and that the writers strike left a big gap in the Summer calendar. I’m not quite sure if I buy the first reason. The three Potter films released in November averaged $916 million worldwide, while the two summer releases averaged $866 million worldwide, which is about a $50 million difference.

This baffles me. November seems to have no competition for that brand of film (besides Twilight, which comes out a couple weeks later), yet I'm sure that the summer will be a more competitive season. Plus, I just liked the idea of a November release. Back when I was 9 and the first Harry Potter came out in November 2001, that was one of the first real moments of hype I had for a movie. I can't remember being so excited for another movie ever (besides the movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas)! I like the November release dates simply for pure nostalgia alone. I really hope they change this back.