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Tag: Wizarding World

  • Warner Bros. Eyeing a ‘Harry Potter Revival as an HBO Max Series

    Warner Bros. Eyeing a ‘Harry Potter Revival as an HBO Max Series

    The Wizarding World has lost a lot of steam with its latest Fantastic Beast entry, and it seems that Warner Bros. is trying to bring back the magic, as they are currently eyeing a new adaptation of the iconic Harry Potter books. This time around, however, it won’t be a new set of films but rather an ongoing series for HBO Max that would recount all books. The only troubling reveal is: J.K. Rowling may be involved to produce.

    While it makes sense that the author of the original work would be involved, Rowling has become quite infamous for her views online. It has gotten to a point where stars of the original have quite openly spoken out against her beliefs and the troubles that come with it. It seems that her involvement is due to her creative control over the work.

    The project is among the many ideas that WBD has without any talent involved. So, it is in the very early stages and once they move forward, they’ll likely focus on trying to add a writer that would work alongside Rowling to bring this series to life for the streaming service. The plan, for now, seems to adapt one book per season, which would lead to around seven seasons’ worth of stories to explore.

    In a way, it’s not too surprising as WBD has also been quite vocal about wanting to revive its “big IPs” in the past such as recent movements on bringing back The Lord of the Rings with its original creative team involved, or at least in talks to return. So, they are trying to recapture that magic again and push the franchise back into the spotlight. Perhaps moving it to HBO Max is also a way to give it time before its cinematic potential is revived. Just a shame they didn’t create their own story in Hogwarts to make it stand out.

    Source: Deadline, Bloomberg

  • ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Passes 12 Million Units in Just 2 Weeks

    ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Passes 12 Million Units in Just 2 Weeks

    It seems that people have been truly itching for a true Harry Potter experience, as Warner Bros. Games’ recent release of Hogwarts Legacy has seemingly already sold 12 million units within its first two weeks. As such, the game has already earned a whopping $850M in global sales across PlayStation 5, XBox Series X, and PC.

    As such, it is the biggest launch ever for Warner Bros. Discovery’s gaming division, as it has also set a new record on Twitch with 1.28M peak concurrent viewers during its launch window. The game already has shown quite the player engagement at 280 hours played since its launch. With so much discourse surrounding Hogwarts Legacy, it also had a strong effect on other Wizarding World products according to WBD.

    Additionally, there has been an increase of global franchise fan engagement overall with Wizarding World Digital garnering 300% higher traffic over the normal monthly unique visitor average for the first 10 days of February.

    Avalanche Software had the honor of developing the game and is likely already fast-tracking its next entry in the Hogwarts Legacy franchise, as a sequel seems quite definite at this rate. Of course, the discourse should also not ignore the PR nightmare that is J.K. Rowling‘s very public anti-trans rhetoric as the franchise continues to try and distance itself from its original creator.

    Source: Variety

  • RUMOR: Warner Bros. May Reboot ‘Harry Potter’ With New Cast

    RUMOR: Warner Bros. May Reboot ‘Harry Potter’ With New Cast

    Geminio! In the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this is the “Doubling Charm” used to duplicate any given object. If rumors are to be believed, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) may be looking to use it on the very franchise it originates from. According to a new report from industry insider Valliant Renegade, WBD wants to reboot the core Harry Potter films with a new cast in the next three-to-five years. The move would come after the company’s high-profile Fantastic Beasts prequels failed with fans, critics, and the box office, resulting in a halt on production of the final two planned entries.

    Valliant Renegade claims WBD has too much invested in the Harry Potter property, which they reportedly call “The Wizarding Division” internally, to let it slip away with Fantastic Beasts. As such, the studio has become willing to make the massive leap and begin anew with the characters and concepts that put the franchise on the map in the first place. Their rationale is, according to Valliant, that the fans of the original novel adaptations have aged past going to see the films and it is therefore time to reignite the passion in a new generation of moviegoers. They would like to make Harry Potter an “evergreen” property.

    As ambitious as this sounds, Valliant warns it’s not yet close to actually happening. WBD is apparently searching for a “James Gunn individual” who would shepherd the entirety of “The Wizarding Division”, and there have not been any talks as of now. Renegade also says that the reboot would likely not be an exact retelling of the classic story, with WBD exploring “many different ways” to bring back the cornerstone names and elements associated with Harry Potter. However, the exact method they’ll use to reboot the franchise is still undecided, if any of this is actually happening at all.

    Source: ScreenGeek

  • ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Future Unclear After ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’

    ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Future Unclear After ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’

    Finally, the third entry of the Fantastic Beasts franchise is making its way to cinemas. The Harry Potter spinoff, however, has been fighting an uphill battle as an onslaught of controversies may have ended up completely derailing the franchise’s future. What was originally envisioned as the third in five entries could end up becoming its final entry if its box office doesn’t prove to be what Warner Bros. was hoping to see with this franchise. In a new piece by Variety, it is revealed that the fourth entry hasn’t started work on its screenplay for the untitled fourth entry.

    Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock referenced that this franchise was meant to be “their Star Wars franchise” but hasn’t been “behaving like one.” The second entry, The Crime of Grindelwald, was received poorly and ended up leading to the third entry getting postponed. COVID didn’t help matters, as it was further pushed back. Then the various controversies started piling on, such as Johnny Depp leaving the franchise due to the various allegations by Amber Heard. As production started, he was swiftly replaced by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen.

    Yet, that wasn’t all, as the creator of J.K. Rowling, who also worked on the screenplays of these films, was becoming quite the polarizing figure online due to her controversial views on sex and gender. Ann Sarnoff, who supervised the Wizard World franchise, recently also left ahead of the Discovery merger. Now, Ezra Miller has also been hit with various disorderly conduct and harassment suits, which continue to pile onto the controversy pile. The recent announcement that LGBTQ references were cut from The Secrets of Dumbledore for its Chinese release may just be the icing on the cake of controversies at this point. As it stands, it’s unclear what the future has in store for the Wizard World and if the Fantastic Beasts franchise will continue at all.

    Source: Variety

  • LGBTQ References Cut from ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ for Chinese Release

    LGBTQ References Cut from ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ for Chinese Release

    There’s been quite the controversy surrounding the way film production studios have handled their international releases. As China remains a strong supporter of the international box office gross–even if recent numbers have been adding some questions regarding its profitability–studios have adapted their films for a release in the Middle Kingdom. Of course, they have very strict guidelines and only allow a certain amount of films into the country. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was among the lucky candidates, but it looks like it came at a cost.

    Warner Bros. has cut the LGBTQ references in its film so that it can release the film in China. While supposedly they only cut six seconds of dialogue, which includes the lines “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love.” Fantastic Beasts didn’t make a secret of the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but it seems the studio still decided to move forward with adopting the film for that release. Warner Bros. has released a statement on their decision:

    As a studio, we’re committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release, and that extends to circumstances that necessitate making nuanced cuts in order to respond sensitively to a variety of in-market factors. Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets.

    There have been many accusations of studios deliberately keeping LGBTQ references to a minimum so that they are easy to edit out for specific markets, which forbid it. Some films have stood by their productions, such as Marvel Studio’s sticking to its guns to not adapting their release of Eternals, which has an openly gay character, to stay true to the story and its director’s vision. Yet, Disney has also been in the spotlight for censoring or generally pushing back on LGBTQ elements planned for Pixar releases. In the case of Fantastic Beasts, Warner Bros. moved ahead with the adaptation but the film ended up opening at a lower box office in the market than its two predecessors.

    Source: The Guardian

  • Daniel Radcliffe Has No Interest in Returning to ‘Harry Potter’ Anytime Soon

    Daniel Radcliffe Has No Interest in Returning to ‘Harry Potter’ Anytime Soon

    Not too long ago, Chris Columbus talked about adapting the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play into films. The excitement was fresh after the original actors got back together for an HBO Max anniversary celebrating the Harry Potter franchise. Many assumed that the return of the original cast would open up the possibility of them returning, but it looks like Daniel Radcliffe has no real interest to do so. In an interview with New York Times, he talked about

    This isn’t the answer that anybody’s going to want, but I think I was so able to go back and enjoy it because it’s not a part of my day-to-day life anymore. I’m getting to a point where I feel like I made it out of “Potter” OK and I’m really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life.

    Daniel Radcliffe

    He goes on to make a comparison to how long it took before the actors of the original Star Wars trilogy returned to their iconic roles.

    I’m never going to say never, but the “Star Wars” guys had like 30, 40 years before they went back. For me, it’s only been 10. It’s not something I’m really interested in doing right now.

    Daniel Radcliffe

    Sadly, it seems anyone hoping to see The Cursed Child get adapted at some point will be disappointed. There’s always a chance that Radcliffe potentially changes his mind, but we’ll see what the years bring. He’s just wrapped up his work on the “Weird Al” Yankovic biopic for Roku and has been quite the popular fancast to play Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ll see if he is open to committing to a new franchise moving forward.

    Source: New York Times

  • Live-Action ‘Harry Potter’ Series in Development for HBO Max

    Live-Action ‘Harry Potter’ Series in Development for HBO Max

    The Wizarding World is about to grow even bigger, as The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that a live-action Harry Potter series is in development. It seems the Executives over at WarnerMedia have been in talks with various writers but nothing is set in concrete as of now. No deals have been made, as HBO Max and Warner Bros. have made the statement that nothing is in active development. The franchise is one of the studio’s most valuable IPs, so it makes sense that they have something planned. J.K. Rowling is presumed to still be involved, as she still has control over the franchise.

    The franchise hasn’t been free from controversy, mostly surrounding Rowling‘s recent comments. Warner Bros. also replaced Johnny Depp with Mads Mikkelsen in the upcoming Fantastic Beasts film. Still, the franchise has quite the following ever since the original film aired in 2001 before Deathly Hallows ended the story of the franchise’s titular character. It wasn’t until 2016 that Fantastic Beasts sparked a new wave of excitement, as Warner Bros. saw to expand upon the now-titled Wizarding World.

    As there are no writers involved, the series can be a prequel, sequel, or even a midquel. It would be interesting to explore a modern Hogwarts, where students are also using modern technology in combination with their magic. There is also a lot of wizarding history that has yet to be explored, so anything is possible. We’ll most likely hear more from this project once they’ve found the right writer.

    Source: Hollywood Reporter