Joshua Herdman, who plays Goyle, might’ve spilled the beans last week at a Harry Potter event in the U.K. about where Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be split up into Part 1 and Part 2.  According to MuggleNet:

Herdman said that the current plan was to split Deathly Hallows just after the trio are captured by the Snatchers and right before they are taken to Malfoy Manor. Many fans had speculated this is where the split would be, as it will provide quite a cliffhanger between films.

That’s disappointing.

Cliffhangers work in TV shows.  When you stick them in movies, people feel robbed.  Think The Matrix Reloaded.

A cliffhanger is wholly unnecessary in Deathly Hallows Part 1 because (A) we already know there’s more to come because it’s called “Part 1,” we don’t need to be reminded of it by ending the movie on an unsatisfying note, and (B) everybody’s going to see Part 2 anyway.

The whole point of cliffhangers is to get people talking and come back for more.  So if everybody’s coming back for more, and if everybody who read the books already knows full well how it’s resolved, why bother?

MuggleNet also notes that this isn’t the final plan, that the filmmakers could change things up a bit once they get in the editing room and see how things play out.  So I guess we can wait and see.  But I like my plan better.

Herdman also dropped a bomb about his partner in crime, Jamie Waylett, who plays Crabbe.  Since Waylett was arrested and convicted of hemp possession a few months ago, he’s “not expected to come back.”  In other words, he was fired.  But that has major plot implications on the climax of Deathly Hallows, so if you haven’t read it, stop right now:

Since Crabbe is killed near the end of the book, Herdman said that he — Goyle — would be the one killed now instead.  Interesting.  I wonder if they’ll mention why Crabbe isn’t there, or just pretend he never existed.