'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince' - 'sex, drugs, and rock and roll'?

July 4, 12:25 PMBooks on Film ExaminerConnie Ann Kirk

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Director David Yates recently said in a Telegraph interview that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is "all about sex, drugs, and rock and roll." He then amended his comment only slightly by saying, "Okay, maybe we should take the 'drugs’ out. Really, this film is more sex, potions and rock n’ roll; but there are all these wonderful things in our story.”  He continues mixing potions and drugs when he mentions Felix Felicis as "a drug that gives you perfect luck."

It's true that the characters, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger--played by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, respectively--are older teens now who explore relationships in more depth at the same time that they take and give potions and continue to attempt to fight off the "Dark Lord."  But "sex, drugs, and rock and roll?" Do readers of any age see even the later Harry Potter books as having quite that sharp of an edge?

Is there something in Mr. Yates' comments that should give audiences a clue that this latest film will be a different Harry Potter?

Mr. Yates directed Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and is also slated to direct the remaining two films in the series, Parts I and II of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. All of the films are based on the bestselling fantasy series by J. K. Rowling. Read the full Telegraph interview with Mr. Yates, here.

Audiences will find out for themselves soon whether the description fits for them, even as a metaphor.  Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince opens in theaters in just 10 days--July 15th.

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[Photo: Promotional poster, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince / Warner Bros.].

Comment below:

What do you think?  Is David Yates speaking only metaphorically about HP6, or will this one be much more edgy than the previous Harry Potter movies?