Despite the fizzling out of the “Fantastic Beasts” spin-offs, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav is well aware of the importance and value of the “Harry Potter” IP to his studio.
On an earnings call last week, Zaslav stated he’d really like to do “something with J.K. [Rowling, author] on Harry Potter going forward,” but it’s not clear what. Whatever it is, Rowling has control over the I.P. to do with as she chooses.
Yet outside the DC properties, no franchise is arguably more valuable to WBD than Rowling and her Wizarding World universe, with the films having grossed more than $9 billion worldwide.
Today, Puck News reports that just before the pandemic hit in early 2020, Warners film chief Toby Emmerich reportedly made a quiet trip to London to meet with Rowling’s business partner Neil Blair.
He apparently brought up an idea that had been pitched before: a potential two-film adaptation of the five-hour stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” that would hopefully prove a success in a way the “Fantastic Beasts” films had not been.
However, Rowling and her team reportedly weren’t interested in ‘Cursed Child’ movies at the time. Doing so would acknowledge the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, in which she is heavily creatively involved, hadn’t worked.
Then things changed around them – Rowling was ‘cancelled’ for her comments relating to gender, the film’s actors began distancing themselves from her, the whole divorce scandal surrounding “Fantastic Beasts” star Johnny Depp was unleashed, and then Zaslav and Discovery took over Warner Brothers.
The result is the ‘Beasts’ franchise is “almost certainly dead”, two films shy of its planned goal. There are also zero “Harry Potter” films or TV projects in development, and Rowling herself is seen as a troubled brand. Even so, the franchise remains immensely popular outside of the screen adaptations.
The site reports that part of the current plan now is for Zaslav to go hard after ‘The Cursed Child’ again, with the failure of “Fantastic Beasts” seen as hopefully incentivising Rowling to keep the property alive as a film franchise.
The only other option is a full remake of the series, which is seen as unlikely, and whatever happens we likely won’t see another ‘Potter’ work on the screen until 2025 at the earliest.
