For financial and scripting reasons the last book was divided into two films , shot back to back , which drew criticism from the series ' fanbase . Radcliffe defended the split , stating that it would have been impossible to properly adapt the final novel into a single film . He added that the last movie was going to be extremely fast @-@ paced with a lot of action , while the first part would be far more sedate , focusing on character development ; he added that , had they combined them , those things would not have made it to the final cut . Filming lasted for a year , concluding in June 2010 and on the last day of shooting , like most of the cast and crew , Radcliffe openly wept .