Home Entertainment Warner Bros pursuing Danielle Radcliffe for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child film adaptation

Warner Bros pursuing Danielle Radcliffe for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child film adaptation

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harry potter 2

Love it or hate it – the name Harry Potter has practically become a license to print money. And that is money that Warner Bros knows all too well. Despite the new play written by JK Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child receiving underwhelming reviews from some hardcore fans, it seems that the studio wants to bring the story to the big screen as well. And if the NY Times report is accurate, the studio is looking for its big star Daniel Radcliffe to return for not just one, but three movies.

Yes, you read that right – three movies. The studio is hoping to turn the play into a trilogy and expand on the story even further. Now, sometimes I wish I had the abilities of Professor X to just sit in on what these board meetings might be like and what goes through these studio heads minds when they think these things through. And if I could give them an imaginary slap over the head when they think of ideas like that, I would. Unfortunately, I am not Professor X (or at least not that I’m admitting), so I can only speculate on their reasoning.

Those studio execs have clearly never watched The Hobbit movies, which despite been fun, had a narrative so stretched that it was almost laughable. They did however make loads of money, which is probably all that matters. The idea of turning one short book into three movies is not a good idea. Turning a stage play into three movies, is even less so. Alas, I clearly don’t have what it takes to be a movie producer then.

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Now, I’ll admit, I’m not the biggest Harry Potter fan. I have never read the books and only ever watched the movies and I was kind of relieved when it all ended. However, Harry Potter fans are some of the most fanatical that you are likely to find in the movie world (Star Wars fans aside). And I have no doubt that if anyone should play the role of Harry Potter in the movies, fans will want to see Daniel Radcliffe being brought back to take on whoever it is that is the enemy in this new play. So, it’s no surprise the studio is doing their best to rope him back in.

The news report doesn’t talk much about the other big stars from the film returning (Rupert Grint and Emma Watson), though I wouldn’t be surprised if they will try that as well. Though, if they can’t secure Radcliffe, then I guess there is no point going after the others, so they want to secure him first to make a convincing argument for the other two to join in.

Now Radcliffe has previously said that he in no way wants to reprise his role for the stage play. However, the appeal of film may be a stronger pull this time and might convince him to change his mind. He has said his Potter days are behind him, but with the money the studio is likely to offer, I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to join up again.

And you would think fans would be jumping for joy, except only they don’t want the films to be made either. Fans though have already started responding to this news with criticism, as they actually don’t want to see the stage play adapted into a movie, because the play deviated too much from the canon. Considering that Rowling is the author of the canon, she pretty much has liberty to change it the way she wants, so no complaints from me there, but needless to say, it does all smell of cheap cash-in and I have no doubt that make another set of films will ruin what most fans were already happy with.

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And it’s not as if the studio doesn’t already have other Harry Potter things in the works.  The studio is currently working on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which has a release date set for November 18, 2016. The story is set 70 years before Harry Potter first set foot in Hogwarts and while Rowling hasn’t exactly written a lot of material around this either, it makes sens e that if they really wanted to expand on the cinematic universe without interfering with the other films, it would be to create more origin stories.

Are you a huge Harry Potter fan? Would you like to see more of the characters brought to cinema or should they leave the films the way they are?

Last Updated: August 31, 2016

8 Comments

  1. Alien Emperor Trevor

    August 31, 2016 at 15:12

    • Original Heretic

      August 31, 2016 at 15:23

      Reply

    • The Order of the Banana

      September 1, 2016 at 08:36

      HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAH!

      Reply

  2. RinceThis

    August 31, 2016 at 15:41

    Why aren’t they bringing Elijah Woods back? He was excellent as Willow.

    Reply

  3. Matthew Holliday

    August 31, 2016 at 19:04

    Zero interest in a movie of this.
    A novel maybe, but they really gotta work the theater cheese out of this to pull it off.

    Reply

    • The Order of the Banana

      September 1, 2016 at 08:38

      Absolutely – I enjoyed the books (they’re a fun read), but the movies have always been a bit hit and miss tbh.

      Reply

      • Matthew Holliday

        September 1, 2016 at 10:27

        The movies were vastly improved in the later ones, although, they still didnt quite capture the magic that made the books come alive.

        But my comment was more about the story in The Cursed Child, it was designed to be a stage show, once you start reading it, you can tell its no Harry Potter.

        Reply

  4. Dane

    September 1, 2016 at 10:36

    I’m quite the Potter fan, but I’m not sure about more movies. It’s as if JK originally wrote the first 5 books thinking “how can I make a great story?” Then money started pouring in and all of a sudden it was “How can we bait everyone back into the story?” It’s like speaking freely to your best friend compared to watching your tongue with your boss so to get the best possible outcome of the situation. I wasn’t happy with the Deathly Hallows adaption as it was just trying to tick too many new boxes.

    Anyway, if they do make the films I hope that they don’t deviate so far from the story that the banking-movie changes the direction of the franchise. Again.

    Reply

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