There are currently 2 plans for the Harry Potter future – both sound terrible

Harry Potter is in crisis. Aside from the problems in front of and behind the camera, the franchise officially branded as Wizarding World has not had a real hit in recent years. In the 11 years since the end of the original series, only three Fantastic Beasts films have been released – and this prevented a promising expansion of the brand.

Despite a promising debut, the spin-off series has steadily dropped at the box office, leaving us very unlikely to ever see the two pending sequels. David Zaslav, the new boss at Warner Bros. Discovery, ignores the former hope of the Wizarding World outright. He wants to get back to his Potter roots as soon as possible.

Harry Potter 8 or a full reboot? The current state of affairs explained

At an investor call last week, he clearly formulated his concerns: Harry Potter has been idle for over a decade, while other franchises release several films and series a year. The release cadence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe is making an impact in Hollywood, and Zaslav wants one potential gold mine like Harry Potter no longer locked in a dungeon at Gringotts.

You can watch the trailer for Fantastic Beasts 3 here:

But how to proceed? The well-connected insider Matthew Belloni reports in his newsletter Puck on two concrete possibilities that are in the air at Warner:

Both views resemble an act of desperation.

A Harry Potter reboot is just as risky as a Lord of the Rings reboot

The Harry Potter question has occupied the Warner boardroom for years. However, Zaslav seems to be the first decision-maker who wants to advance the Wizarding World in a big way. The complete reboot would be that easiest and fastest wayto make a profit out of it. Warner owns the film rights and can film JK Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books as many times as it wants.

At the same time, such an undertaking harbors a great risk: the reboot could do even more damage to the brand than any flopped Fantastic Beasts sequel. Last but not least are the first Harry Potter films as unique and formative fantasy experience anchored in pop culture memory, making it difficult to overwrite them with a new interpretation.

The problem is well known at Warner: Even in the case of The Lord of the Rings, the question of a new edition should have been raised several times. However, with his trilogy, Peter Jackson has a immortal piece of cinema created. Now, Warner is trying something completely new with the anime The War of the Rohirrim, while the Amazon series The Rings of Power dances around the legacy of the Jackson films.

The Harry Potter reboot would be viewed extremely critically from the day it was announced – the original is too big, popular and iconic. The more logical one, though much more complicated step would thus be Harry Potter 8. Logical, because few things work as well as nostalgia. Complicated because Zaslav needs the consent of Harry Potter creator Rowling to implement the material.

The Cursed Child is not the ideal template for Harry Potter 8

The return of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint would no doubt be that biggest cinema event of the decade. Already released earlier this year, the reunion special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: ​​Return to Hogwarts felt like a little test run of what would be possible if Warner flexed his Potter muscles. Without the green light from Rowling, Zaslav and Co.’s hands are tied.

Rowling still has a lot of control over the Wizarding World. And she has been vocal against making The Cursed Child a film. In fact, the play is only partially suitable for a cinema sequel. Rather, it looks like a Stage remix of the previous partsa Potter best-of, so to speak, including handing over the wand to the next generation.

As appealing as the idea is to see the trio of Radcliffe, Watson and Grint reprise their familiar roles as Harry, Ron and Hermione, the film adaptation of The Cursed Child takes a lot of curiosity away from a potential Harry Potter 8. An interim story would be much more exciting, but ultimately also the direct entry into the creative one-way street. The Wizarding World has so much more to offer.

The Harry Potter franchise is simply skipping its most exciting phase

Harry Potter could do that most eclectic franchise ever be. Give us an HBO series that tells us about the gang wars of Diagon and Knockturn Alley while Victorian London pulsates outside! An adrenaline pumping Quidditch movie that’s like a cross between Top Gun: Maverick, Speed ​​Racer and Le Mans 66! Or the great Azkaban breakout of 1744 that ends in pure Dementor horror!

The Harry Potter universe provides the template for so many different stories that sometimes more, sometimes less connected to the original are. Where’s the prequel about the highborn lords Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs? The epic adventure where dragons, trolls and house elves clash? The Little Wand Collector’s Ballad? And the Voldemort series too, for that matter.

It’s really sad that the beast adventures haven’t found an audience big enough to Confidence in more remote Potter ideas to accomplish. It’s clear that the franchise will one day return to its roots. But if that’s going to happen now, let’s skip the exciting part of franchise expansion and blank out the best opportunities. Coming home to Hogwarts doesn’t feel right if we haven’t seen the world before.

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What are your hopes for the Harry Potter future?