Warner Bros. Discovery are keen to make more films in the Harry Potter universe, provided that JK Rowling is up for it.
You’d have to imagine that she would be – after all, she’s made a load of money out of the books, films, and accompanying merchandise.
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The writer, who has recently been involved in controversy because of her views on transgender people, will be key to whether or not there is more to come from the Potterverse, according to reports from The Hollywood Reporter.
The report claims that CEO David Zaslav recently spoke to investors about his desire to focus on franchise properties, as they’ve been particularly lucrative for the company in the past. Zaslav is said to have told investors: “We’re going to focus on franchises,
“We haven’t had a Superman movie in 13 years. We haven’t done a Harry Potter in 15 years.
“The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of the profits for Warner Bros. … over the past 25 years.”
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The Warner Bros. executive then mentioned that the studio does actually still own the rights to The Lord of the Rings as well, before returning to Harry Potter to state that he wants to do more, though only ‘if we can do something with JK on Harry Potter going forward’.
So, it seems that Rowling will have the final say on whether anything gets made.
The film series that was released between 2001 and 2011 was huge, grossing $7.7 billion around the world.
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Then, the Fantastic Beasts series came out, though the returns have been getting smaller and smaller with those films.
Furthermore, Rowling’s comments on the transgender community have perhaps tarnished the Potter name somewhat, with even Daniel Radcliffe criticising her views in an open letter back in 2020.
In that letter, he wrote: “Transgender women are women.
“Any statement to the contrary erases the identity and dignity of transgender people and goes against all advice given by professional health care associations who have far more expertise on this subject matter than either Jo or I.”
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More recently, Radcliffe clarified his position on the matter, claiming that it is ‘important’ that people speak out against Rowling.
He explained: “The reason I felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing Potter, I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that.
“And so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way.
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“And that was really important.”
Topics: Harry Potter, TV And Film, JK Rowling
Tom Wood