David Zaslav hopes there’s more money to be made with Harry Potter movies, but J.K. Rowling would need to be on board.
The Harry Potter franchise is currently on ice with no new movies currently in the works, but that could change if the new boss at Warner Bros. Discovery gets his way. David Zaslav recently addressed what’s happening with Harry Potter during an investor’s call on Thursday, as reported by THR. While the company has been cutting costs to the extent of canceling already-completed films, things are different with Harry Potter, as the goal is to get the movie series revived at some point.
As explained by Zaslav, the idea is to “focus on franchises” moving forward. That may also explain the recent return of Henry Cavill as Superman in the DCU, with his Black Adam appearance the first of many planned projects in the works for his Man of Steel. Zaslav noted how profitable Superman and Harry Potter movies have been in the past and suggested that there’s still more money to be pulled from these wells.
“We’re going to focus on franchises. We haven’t had a Superman movie in 13 years. We haven’t done a Harry Potter in 15 years. The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of the profits for Warner Bros. … over the past 25 years.”
On the subject of Harry Potter, however, there’s a condition Zaslav has in place when it comes to moving forward with that movie series. He mentions that it would need to involve J.K. Rowling. As Zaslav puts it:
“If we can do something with J.K. on Harry Potter going forward.”
Will the Harry Potter Franchise Return?
The Fantastic Beasts prequel series was planned to consist of five films, but the third installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, underperformed at the box office. There are currently no plans to make a fourth movie and it’s not clear if the film will ever be made. Amid the disappointing performance of Fantastic Beasts 3 had also been increasing criticism leveled against creator Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling with many accusing her of transphobia. Daniel Radcliffe and other stars of the franchise have condemned comments Rowling had made about the LGBTQ+ community.
However, Warner Bros. execs have consistently stood by Rowling despite the controversy. There had been speculation that the studio was distancing itself from Rowling after she was absent from the HBO Max reunion special, but she later claimed it was her own decision not to go. A statement released by Warner Bros. soon after also made it clear that they haven’t cut ties with Rowling.
“Warner Bros. has enjoyed a creative, productive and fulfilling partnership with J.K. Rowling for the past 20 years,” the statement reads. “She is one of the world’s most accomplished storytellers, and we are proud to be the studio to bring her vision, characters and stories to life now — and for decades to come.”
