For an entire generation, Harry Potter was the undisputed cash cow for Warner Bros., amassing an eye-watering total of $2.3 billion since its humble debut with the Philosopher’s Stone all the way back in 2001.
That’s a legacy that the studio will tap into later this year with the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but according to a report hailing from The New York Times, Warner is already looking further afield to J.K. Rowling’s two-part stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Set some 19 years after the events of The Deathly Hallows, Potterheads got hold of the rehearsal script of the Cursed Child late last month, and it appears the pandemonium that ensued sent alarming bells ringing over at Warner Bros.
Because if sources close to The NY Times are to be believed, the studio is now courting Daniel Radcliffe to reprise his defining role as the bespectacled wizard for a Cursed Child trilogy. It’s speculation that evokes memories of Warner’s lavish treatment of The Hobbit series – three films from a two-part stage play is certainly a stretch – but given the enduring legacy of Harry Potter and its subsequent box office draw, we’d be foolish to rule it out.
Per NY Times:
“Warners is secretly working on getting the movie rights and a screenplay settled, and of course in their minds only one man should be Harry,” according to a well-placed Hollywood source. “However he has made it clear that his mind is certainly not focused on returning to the role anytime soon — and that could be until he hits 40.”
Assuming these rumors are on point for just a moment, Daniel Radcliffe has stated in the past that he would be game for returning as Harry Potter should the script be up to snuff. If Warner Bros. secures J.K. Rowling in some capacity – and leverages resources across both Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts – the studio could even switch between both sub-series with each passing year. Conjecture, of course, but we’ll be keeping track of these rumors regardless.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will steer the HP series into the Roaring ’20s – long before the Boy Who Lived entered the fray – when David Yates’ fantastical offshoot opens on November 17.
