The final Harry Potter book will be split into two separate films when it hits the big screen, it has been revealed.

At a whopping 784 pages, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which sold 11 million copies in just 24 hours after it was published last July, was considered too weighty to cram into a single movie.

So the final installment in JK Rowling’s big-hit series will be halved, and released in two parts.

The first will hit cinema screens in November 2010, with the follow-up in May 2011, according to entertainment website variety.com.

Both movies will be directed concurrently by David Yates, who is also behind the clapper board for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, due for release in November.

So far, the Harry Potter franchise has raked in around £2.3bn from cinemas worldwide.