Usually well-informed former Hollywood Reporter journalist and former Hollywood attorney Matthew Belloni reports in his newsletter that David Zaslav’s recent statement about the future of the “Harry Potter” series has caused quite a stir. Warner boss Zaslav has made it clear that the fact that no new Harry Potter movie has come out in so many years is a huge mistake on the part of its predecessors and he plans to change that.
But how is he going to change that? What will happen? There are probably two options: “Harry Potter 8” or a complete reboot of the franchise with a new film adaptation of the very first part! Although it is uncertain which of the two options it will be, and we will explain to you in a moment what is in favor of one and what is in favor of the other, one thing is still quite certain:
“Fantastic Beasts” is dead!
Belloni also assumes that the “Fantastic Beasts” series will not be continued after three films. Even the old Warner management was determined to pull the plug because the movies weren’t making enough money.
For Zaslav, that seems to have happened a long time ago. In fact, the Warner boss completely ignored the “Beasts” movies when he complained that there hadn’t been a new “Harry Potter” movie in so long. Instead of continuing to tell stories on the margins of the franchise, he obviously wants to put the famous main character back in the spotlight. That brings us to his two options.
“Harry Potter 8” would make sense – but does Rowling want it?
Of course, it would be obvious to do “Harry Potter 8”. The story already exists: the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is set nearly two decades after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As Belloni reports, an adaptation would also be Warner’s first choice. The problem: JK Rowling reportedly doesn’t want to. In early 2020, then-Warner film boss Toby Emmerich got a rejection from her. According to Belloni, he was proposing a two-part film adaptation at the time.
The problem for Warner is the play’s global success. Rowling and her team fear that a film adaptation would put an end to the stage success. When the story is available as a movie, Harry Potter fans will no longer have to attend the theater performances. She may therefore prefer to wait and see the usual life cycle of such a play. If the play disappears from the big stages in a few years, the film adaptation can be started.
Does Zaslav’s impatience lead to a remake?
But David Zaslav cannot and does not want to wait that long. Matthew Belloni reports that two sources have confirmed that that Warner owns all film rights to the seven original books, allowing the studio to make remakes without Rowling’s involvement. Should the author continue to reject a film adaptation of “Harry Potter 8,” Warner could easily start over with a remake of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.”
One advantage would be that over the years Warner has made more and more concessions to JK Rowling and given her more and more control. So much so that she successfully insisted on writing the screenplays for the Fantastic Beasts movies despite having no experience in the field. The remakes could be staged free from this check. However, there is a drawback to this: Warner would destroy any relationship with Rowling. After that, it would be almost impossible to get her approval for “Harry Potter 8” or any other material in this world (meanwhile there were plans for an HBO series).
Insider knows for sure: Warner is doing everything possible to make “Harry Potter 8”.
Hollywood insider Matthew Belloni therefore assumes that the remake approach would be pure desperation. Warner cannot afford to destroy his relationship with Rowling. The franchise is also too important after seven movies (which you can’t just re-release every 15 years). He therefore expects the established Hollywood studio and the new boss David Zaslav to pull out all the stops to convince JK Rowling to let them film Harry Potter 8 after all.
According to him, the chances are better than at the beginning of 2020. After all, JK Rowling must now admit that the series ‘Fantastic Beasts’ has failed. She also has an interest in continuing the franchise in cinema. If she understood that this was only possible with “Harry Potter 8”, she could come on board and give her “Go”. Then there could be an eighth film – whether it’s Daniel Radcliffe, who doesn’t seem ready to return at the moment, or a new cast, it would just be another discussion of the future, which should surely give Warner even more headaches. deliver.
So it remains exciting to see how the “Harry Potter” franchise develops, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear: One way or another, “Harry Potter” will continue in the cinema – if not immediately. Whatever the studio decides, a release before the end of 2025 cannot be expected, as such films always require corresponding planning and development time.