WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar recently teased that new Harry Potter content was in the works for HBO Max, and it has people wondering if they plan on adapting the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Ever since the epilogue scene at the end of the Harry Potter movie franchise in 2011, fans have been asking for more movies set in the wizarding world. Their wishes were granted, somewhat obliquely, by the release of prequels Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, as well as a sequel in the form of a two-part stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
The Fantastic Beasts series is surrounded by controversy and has somewhat underperformed overall compared to its predecessor. The second movie of the prequel series, The Crimes of Grindelwald, received brutal reviews after it was released in 2018. The studio has been trying to rectify the situation by recasting Johnny Depp's role as Gellert Grindelwald with Mads Mikkelsen, who has been deemed a better fit for the character in many critics’ opinions; it might entice viewers to give Fantastic Beasts another chance. In any case, a new Harry Potter project could give a breath of fresh air to the overall franchise and distract from Fantastic Beasts' failings.
Now, rumors of a live-action Harry Potter TV show being developed for HBO Max have been given some weight by WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar's recent remarks. Many fingers are being pointed at Harry Potter and the Cursed Child as the potential material to be adapted since the play has already proven to be very popular.
While J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. have both denied that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child would ever be adapted for the big screen in the past, Kilar's remarks rekindled old rumors. Taking into account that the play is shown in two parts because of its length, many argue that a movie version of Harry Potter in the Cursed Child wouldn't really work and might it be better adapted in a TV show format. It so happens that the studio has announced a call for writers for a potential spinoff show set in the world of Harry Potter.
While recasting the beloved original cast of the Harry Potter franchise would prove a challenging endeavor, the studio might have to for story continuity. The characters are considerably older in the play; Harry, Ron and Hermione are in their late 30s, so the original three actors of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint are still a bit too young-looking to convincingly be just a stone's throw away from 40.
Another thing to consider is how Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was originally cast, which had caused inevitable controversy back in 2016: Hermione Granger’s role was given to a Black actress, which Rowling defended by saying that Hermione’s skin color had never been described in detail in the novels. If the studio decides to go with that new canon, they should lean into fully recasting every role.
Set 19 years later after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child shows Harry, Ron and Hermione as 37-year-old parents who are seeing their children off to Hogwarts. The play continues Harry Potter’s story through his son, Albus, following Albus Severus Potter as he uncovers secrets from his father’s past in a time-travel adventure. On top of the original set of characters, the play also features Draco Malfoy’s son Scorpius, Hermione and Ron’s daughter Rose, as well as Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange’s surprise offspring Delphi. The time-travel aspect of the play could make for a very engaging movie or TV series, both for new and old, loyal audiences by exploring much of the original story through a fresh lens.
Since nothing has been confirmed by either Warner Bros. or J.K. Rowling, there is no way to predict when a new Harry Potter movie or TV show might be released. With filming restrictions due to COVID, we can expect a release as early as 2023 if the project is confirmed in the next few months.
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