From an outsider’s perspective, Warner Bros have been struggling to nail down a proper milk-the-Harry-Potter-cash-cow strategy when it comes to screen media. Granted, each of the Fantastic Beasts films proved successful in global box office receipts, but as the trilogy finds itself plagued by both Johnny Depp-related controversy and progressively worsening critical reception with each instalment, the franchise as a whole is in dire need of a new jumping off point. Enter: the Harry Potter TV series.
“There is a tremendous amount of ambition for that and we are engaged in a number of different conversations,” said Warner Bros Television CEO Channing Dungey at the UK TV conference Content London (via Variety).
Dungey went on to admit while there’s nothing “imminent on the horizon,” there is certainly a lot of interest and “a lot of passion” for something of this nature.
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Dungey added: “What’s great is that you see how the audience is so engaged and so ready. Our unscripted team did a fantastic Return To Hogwarts special for HBO last year, that resonated so tremendously, then we did a quiz show, The Tournament Of Houses, that Helen Mirren was the host for. The audience is ready, they want to go, so we’re just to figure out what the right next step is.”
Aside from a possible TV series and the aforementioned unscripted formats mentioned above, around this time last year, franchise director Chris Columbus (not that one) revealed he was keen to adapt Harry Potter & The Cursed Child into a feature-length movie.
“I would love to direct The Cursed Child. It’s a great play and the kids are actually the right age to play those roles. It’s a small fantasy of mine,” said Chris Columbus.
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It’s now been over a decade since the original trio of Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) closed the main saga with Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows – Part 2; and an even lengthier 21-year period since the global phenomenon debuted with Harry Potter & the Philosopher’s Stone.
Since then, fans have glimpsed older versions of these beloved characters via the final film’s epilogue, as well as the two-part Harry Potter & The Cursed Child stage production – detailing the exploits of the original trio’s children at Hogwarts – which earned six Tonies at the 2018 awards (including Best Play). At the time, it also set the record for the all-time highest weekly ticket sales for a stage play.
Rumour has it, Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav as well as film executives Michael De Luca an Pam Abdy have a desire “go hard” on a screen adaptation of said stage play, releasing no sooner than 2025. At this point in time, however, the prospect of such a project is nothing but talk and SEO-motivated speculation.
Perhaps the Harry Potter TV series everyone’s so excited about making will involve The Cursed Child.
