After months of rumors floating around it seems it’s finally confirmed that the fan-favorite Harry Potter franchise is all set for a TV reboot, and with that, a comeback of J.K. Rowling’s involvement in the projects. An insider recently revealed in a podcast that the original plan was to go with a ninth movie with the adaptation of The Cursed Child. However, Harry Potter actor Daniel Radcliffe and Hermione actor Emma Watson’s refusal to rejoin the franchise with J.K. Rowling, still in the mix after her series of transphobic comments over the recent years, has apparently put those plans on hold.
Reportedly, Warner Bros. tried to buy J.K. Rowling out of the movies, but after she relaid some outlandish terms, they realized that they are stuck with her for now. As such, the plan to move forward with a TV series became substantial. However, there still seems more to the story than this. Even so, fans of the franchise seem pretty excited for a reboot as this would give more time for some plot and character developments that weren’t possible in the original movies due to time management.
J.K. Rowling’s non-negotiable terms for Harry Potter reboot
As the initial plan was for the original cast to return to reprise their roles for the ninth movie based on The Cursed Child, Warner Bros. tried to negotiate to put J.K. Rowling out of the movie for good. However, Rowling reportedly demanded an outrageous amount for that to happen, and as a result, the company realized that they are stuck with her. And with Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe refusing to collaborate with her again after her controversial statements, the plan for a ninth movie was shelved.
Hence, they planned the reboot of the entire franchise with a seven-part TV series, with each season focusing on one of the books. According to Jeff Sneider who revealed the upcoming plans on The Hot Mic podcast, Warner Bros. also wanted to kind of revamp the franchise with the TV series set in either America or Paris.
Which, seems like another of their ploy to minimize Rowling’s involvement in the process. However, Rowling wanted to keep the Britishness of the original stories intact, as she felt, “Harry Potter is a British property and should stay true to its roots,” so those pitches were shot down fast by her.
J.K. Rowling’s royalty cut from the Harry Potter franchise
Rowling reportedly makes around $50-$150 million per year from her royalty cut of everything Harry Potter. Be it games, theme parks, merchandise, and the Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts books and movies. However, in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, her production company Brontë Film and TV recently released a report showing that they faced a 74% decline in their profits. As such, Rowling’s obvious protectiveness over the world she gave birth to and the royalty it earns her is unsurprising.
Especially, as the TV series will be spanning years and her involvement as the producer will inevitably give her a chance to turn her losses around quickly. As such, the series is possibly going to portray a very familiar retelling of the original movies, but with more depth. According to Sneider, this series could also be Warner Bros.’s way to have leverage over Watson and Radcliffe as if they do not agree to return for the movie, they could very easily move on with new actors in their places for the ninth movie.
It will be interesting to see what happens as the actor of Ron Weasley, Rupert Grint, already expressed his desire to return for the ninth movie. Rest assured, whether a The Cursed Child movie adaptation does happen in the future with the original cast as most are hoping for, or the new TV reboot, fans seem eager to delve into the Wizarding World once again even though Warner Bros. is yet to acknowledge any news regarding this yet.
Source: The Direct
