‘Potterverse’ Will Expand In New Films
This is no longer the last Harry Potter-related film.
Not long ago an April Fool’s spoof from 2012, in which Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling said she was writing two new Potter books, strangely made the internet rounds all over again.
This isn’t that. But now that does seem prescient.
New Potterverse films really are coming from Warner Brothers, producers of the Harry Potter film series.
No, this is not an April Fool’s, not a drill, and not a Quibbler article. Instead it’s being reported everywhere — such as at the Financial Post — along with a Warner Brothers press release.
- Not a sequel to the Harry Potter series, or prequels, Rowling has said.
- Based on Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them, a textbook series in the Potterverse.
- Main character: textbook author Newt Scamander.
- Will start in New York City, 70 years before Harry’s era. American wizards at last?
- You “this is turning into franchise fatigue; only books with words make for better higher transcendent culture!” critics can start moaning now: we’ll also have video games, theme park expansions, internet links, etc.
- Film release timing uncertain.
- Screenwriter? This may be the most significant news. From the press release comes this quote from J.K. Rowling herself:
“It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.
“As I considered Warners’ proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.”
Here’s hoping she has the right brand of versatility to do it. Books and screenplays, while more similar now than they have been in other eras, are still their own art forms. Maybe the immersion in the years of Potter films will have given her sufficient background. Even so, I imagine the Warner team will have a significant hand in pruning and primping whatever she’s given them.
Hmm… I’ve never read any of the spin-off literature, but this sounds like a neat idea. I love the idea of authors screenwriting their own stuff.
Gah, let it die already! Thirteen years of Harry Potter is enough.
Harry Potter: The Next Generation
More like Harry Potter: The Old Republic from the info.
It looks like it’s going in significantly different direction, which is totally yay-worthy. I don’t see Chosen Ones and coming-of-age and whatnot. The Potterverse an interesting and well-fleshed bit of worldbuilding, and I think it can support more good story.
Even if they do a good story, all that will do will encourage them to milk it to death. The Star Wars Expanded Universe is an example of this. It seems like anything that does well automatically gets inflated into a fifteen-year franchise, or more. It’s one of my pet peeves.
Ah, but we all LOVE Star Wars! (I’m being somewhat sarcastic here, even though I did like the original movies and at least one of the newer ones)
A wild Death Eater appears.
Stupefy!
I enjoy the “Potterverse,” and am quite ready for more of it. Really, I’m not sure why more folks aren’t encouraged: Rowling was last active making new stories in that world six years ago — it only seems more recent because the last film released in 2011 — and she has since been working to establish her own different skills, and even identities, in non-Potter-related stories. This announcements comes only after that. From here it seems she truly wants to pursue only more great stories.
You’re a more positive man than me, Stephen.I guess this makes me a fiction legalist, but I’ve seen so many franchises do this that it’s hard for me to believe it will be little more than a cash grab. I liked how Rowling was content to finally end it, even with the postscript. This I guess I can’t help but think we’re going to see either a bad film or another ten years of sequels.