“Please don’t reboot the ‘Harry Potter’ movies. We beg you.” This is what the American media Collider writes in an article indirectly addressed to Warner studios.
A reboot of the Harry Potter movies? For Collider, the answer is clearly no and the arguments put forward are quite good. As the article clarifies, the film series was a global phenomenon that will surely never happen again. The feature films were able to capitalize on the ideal encounter between a worldwide best-seller, a generation of voracious readers and film lovers, and a perfect cast.
The story of the Boy Who Lived was then approachable enough for international audiences, yet engaging enough for people around the world to want to become wizards, which made it almost universally appealing. The franchise has since become one of the most popular and recognizable works of fiction of all time, an impact that would be nearly impossible to replicate.
Following the conclusion of Harry’s story in 2011 with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, Warner Bros. had ambitions to create an expanded cinematic universe set in the wizarding world, a venture they started in 2016 with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. However, following a combination of lackluster box office results, failed attempts at producing sequels, and myriad cast and writer controversies, the post-Harry franchise was not a success.
And while the failures of a beloved saga are often grounds for rebooting it and for a complete “fresh start”, Collider takes the lead and clarifies that there’s no need to reboot the Harry Potter films – du less in the near future.
“For all the producers, here’s the plea: don’t reboot the Harry Potter movies, please,” writes Collider.
PERFECT CIRCUMSTANCES
The original movies were indeed released in an absolutely perfect whirlwind of factors that helped them become staples in everyone’s life. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone thus hit the big screen in 2001, the first year that there had been no new additions to the book series since its first release in 1997. With four of his published and internationally popular, the film saga already had a massive fanbase when the first feature film was just coming out.
At the same time, public favor for fantasy was also peaking, with the Lord of the Rings films being released in the same years. Queues around bookstores for the midnight releases of the latest books, cinemas filled with each new opus, the Potter-mania was there. Upon release, three of the eight films became the highest-grossing films of their year, and by the end of the saga, it was crowned the fourth-highest-grossing film series of all time.
Warner Bros.
Along with these perfect circumstances, the cast helped propel the franchise to unimaginable heights. Collider insists: it’s hard to imagine a world without Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Rupert Grint’s endearing portrayal of Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson’s grace, playfulness, and poise. They have thus become the faces of a globally acclaimed franchise and role models for children around the world. But they are not the only ones to be irreplaceable: Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and Gary Oldman, among others, have also marked the saga in an indelible way.
NO DEMAND AND CONTROVERSIES
As Collider points out, there’s not really a demand for a new Harry Potter, as public memories are too recent. Starting over so soon when some of the main cast are still young and relevant would likely be divisive for fans, torn between their former loyalties and their undying support for the franchise. Additionally, the recent failures of the Fantastic Beasts series might make potential viewers skeptical or disinterested in an overly ambitious return.
Finally, recent controversies surrounding JK Rowling, who has publicly shared reductive and damaging views on gender identity and trans rights, has tarnished Harry Potter’s image somewhat, causing fans to wonder. a dilemma between supporting the beloved work they grew up with and condemning the problematic words of its author.
The next step for the franchise? In addition to announced video games, including Hogwarts Legacy – Hogwarts Legacy whose trailer is to be discovered here, Collider proposes to expand the universe, perhaps with a television series. Anyway no reboot, the publication begs.
While you wait to find out what the future holds, you can dive back into the past alongside the cast of the saga with the reunion special, Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts, filmed to mark the acclaimed franchise’s 20th anniversary.