Warner Bros. is reportedly planning a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie adaptation. Sometimes considered an eighth installment in the Harry Potter story, Cursed Child is a play written by Jack Thorne and inspired by J.K. Rowling. The play premiered in 2016 on London’s West End, following Harry’s son Albus Severus as he lands in trouble while at Hogwarts and featuring appearances from many beloved Harry Potter characters and their children. Though Cursed Child is a massively successful play, having broken the record for all-time highest weekly ticket sales, some feel that the plot is not in line with what the original novels set up, with critics even dubbing it “fan fiction.”
Now, a new report by Puck News indicates that Cursed Child may be making the jump from the stage to the screen as part of Warner Bros.’ new plans for the Harry Potter franchise. According to the report, David Zaslav, the President and CEO of Warner Bros., hopes to keep the Harry Potter film franchise alive by retooling the sequel in the midst of the Fantastic Beasts failures. Despite the five-film plan that was put in place for the Eddie Redmayne-led spin-off series, this year’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (the third in the series) massively underperformed as the lowest box office opening in the Wizarding World franchise. These financial failures along with many criticisms leveled at the Fantastic Beasts films due to their writing, retcons to Harry Potter canon, and behind-the-scenes controversies are likely why Zaslav has reportedly set his sights on something that could potentially emulate the success of the Harry Potter movies, since Cursed Child could be marketed as a sequel to the hugely successful Harry Potter story.
Would Original Harry Potter Cast Members Return for Cursed Child?
Though many of those involved with the original movies have stated that they wouldn’t return for a Cursed Child movie, Harry Potter director Chris Columbus has stated his interest in directing one. However, despite the perceived sequel that Cursed Child provides, the play is similar to the Fantastic Beasts films in terms of retconning important elements of Harry Potter canon and creating new and complicated plot issues that are never resolved, thanks largely to the reappearance of notorious MacGuffin the Time-Turner. Despite the play working very well as an immersive on-stage experience, making Cursed Child a bona fide part of the Wizarding World by translating it to the screen is unlikely to go over well with fans of the originals and could run into the same hurdles as Fantastic Beasts.
Another major issue with Warner Bros. reported new plan is casting. Though it’s possible that the original Harry Potter stars would have creative hang-ups if approached about returning with the Cursed Child script, a bigger complication persists. It was a meaningful shift for many when Cursed Child cast a Black actor as Hermione, offering an organic opportunity for diversity on the stage and in the Harry Potter universe. Bringing Emma Watson back as Hermione would erase that progress, though not bringing Watson back in one of her most beloved roles would also likely incite controversy.
The solution to this would be re-casting every character and starting fresh with a new slate, which is likely what the original stars would prefer. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Watson, Tom Felton, and most of the Harry Potter franchise’s stars grew up within the Wizarding World for a decade of their lives, and have since worked to distance themselves from those roles and diversify their careers, though perhaps one could be convinced to return for a cameo appearance, with Felton in particular the most likely to return. While a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie could be a huge success for Warner Bros., it will be a long road before audiences can bask in the nostalgia of the film as the studio works to solve the plot, continuity, and casting puzzles presented by the endeavor.
