We’ll find out next year whether the Fantastic Beasts experiment is set to continue, with the third installment a pivotal one for the Wizarding World franchise. If it continues to trend downwards, then Warner Bros. might have to put the five-film series out of its misery a little earlier than expected, considering the effects-driven epics will set them back somewhere in the region of $200 million apiece.
However, following the recent news that HBO Max are actively inviting pitches for TV projects set in the Harry Potter universe, the literary phenomenon could be set to make its home on streaming for the foreseeable future. There’s plenty of untapped live-action potential in the mythology, and the episodic format would give fresh stories the time to breathe and get their hooks into fans both old and new.
Of course, there’ve also been reams of speculation surrounding another feature film, which either does or doesn’t involve the returns of the cast who starred in the first eight Potters, depending on which report you read. Insider Daniel Richtman has now offered up, though, that Warner Bros. are exploring the potential of an R-rated Wizarding World movie, which is one of the dumbest things imaginable.
Unless they remake the fourth installment with Dumbledore screaming, “did you put your f*cking name in the f*cking Goblet of Fiyah?”, then it’s both an unnecessary and entirely pointless idea. In the last few months, though, the tipster has touted potential R-ratings for Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes 3, multiple MCU projects, Star Wars, Transformers, Star Trek, Sony’s SPUMC, the DCEU, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Tim Burton’s Addams Family, so it’s probably best not to get too invested in the idea of Harry F*cking Potter just yet.
