'Potter''s Yield

If you're just beginning to get feeling back in your legs after sitting through the 2-hour-and-29-minute adaptation of the 309-page novel ''Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' the following figures will not please you. Based on the same page-to-minute ratio, this means that ''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,'' at 341 pages, would result in a 2-hour-and-44-minute movie (the film is now in production for release next November). ''Prisoner of Azkaban'' (435 pages) would clock in at 3 hours and 30 minutes, and ''Goblet of Fire'' would have to include catered meals in the ticket price: At 734 pages, the adaptation would last for 5 hours and 54 minutes.

''Potter'' producer David Heyman admits this might be a bit much for even the hardiest ''Harry'' fans, adding that he and director Chris Columbus have ''talked about making two films [from the fourth novel] -- and Warner Brothers would kill me for saying it -- but releasing one in November, having a cliff-hanger, and carrying into December.'' Sounds like a good plan. Otherwise, he'd better be prepared to carry us out of the theater.

Reporting by Mari Cartel and William Keck

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