In an interesting move, Warner Bros has announced that on December 29th it will stop shipping all DVD and Blu-ray copies of the Harry Potter films. This includes all eight films in the series on both Blu-ray and DVD formats.

The decision to stop shipping the Blu-ray and DVD versions effectively puts the movie back in the vault. The moratorium, as Warner is calling it, does not apply to digital, electronic sell-through, video-on-demand, and video games from the franchise. This could mean that it might still be possible to watch the film in digital, but details were sketchy on exactly what Warner might have planned for the digital distribution of the films.

This move comes as a big surprise, and it is certain to drive up the cost of the movies as well as the desire of those that want them to get them. The 3D version of the latest movie is expected to also be in demand, as well as the Blu-ray editions for those that want to use them on their Blu-ray players. No one is using the word shortage yet, but things could get tight for those that don’t act quickly.