30 seconds and millions of muggles freak out. The teaser from the streaming provider HBO Max doesn’t actually give much away apart from a few floating candles that form a world-famous lettering.
But if you didn’t expect anything, not much is a lot.
So now it’s official: Shortly after millions upon millions of Christians have celebrated the resurrection of Jesus, the boy who survived follows suit. Of course, the comparison is flawed. It took the Messiah three days to return. Harry in the end probably almost 14 years. But still: Both can turn water into wine.
Harry Potter is coming back, this time as a series – how could it be otherwise. This can not go well.
It was clear that the Harry Potter universe would naturally continue to expand.
After all, all the major film studios in the world share one and the same heraldic animal: what the lion is for Gryffindor and the snake for Slytherin, the cash cow is for Warner, Disney and Universal. Who could blame them? The eight main films alone have grossed 7.7 billion US dollars in less than ten years – almost seven times their production costs. In the end, the Nifflers – sorry: the studio bosses – were happy.
Franchises like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars or the “Wizarding World” might still be “too big to fail” for the moment. Last but not least, to make up for the absurdly high license and production costs, the film studios stuff so many prequels, sequels and spin-offs down the fans’ throats that the hyped viewers’ joyful expectation turns to weariness and finally disillusionment. Stories all too often become content and fans become consumers. Assembly line work instead of a dream factory.
A new edition can make sense. For example, to bind a new generation to the franchise. The trio Radcliffe-Watson-Grint is still too young to rave about the good old days when everything still cost a Knut. When Ron uses “Wingardium Leviosa” (not “Leviosaaa”) to let the troll’s club levitate in “Philosopher’s Stone” in order to save the mop of the later love of his life (sorry, spoilers!), you can see that today, 20 years later , rather bad than real. Still, the original series just hasn’t gathered enough dust to warrant a fresh start.
There is no question that remakes can work. Most recently, Denis Villeneuves showed how it can be done with his grandiose reinterpretation of Dune. Now the new Harry Potter series should tell neither the before nor the after, but tell the story of the seven-part series of novels. Once again. Just more detailed. For “ten consecutive years” the next generation of Muggles will be fed with Potter content.
So now the long wait begins. Above all, the even greater expectation. Because the pressure that will weigh on those responsible will be enormous.
The Middle-earth series “Rings of Power” had shown how something like this can end. For fear of their own fans, the well-known screenwriters had to be shielded from the outside world and creative behind taped windows. That in the end well-intentioned, expensive mediocrity came out is not surprising. Anyone who is supposed to heave Harry Potter into this decade is not to be envied. Inventor Joanne K. Rowling resigns for this task – she is to become a producer.
Now one shouldn’t hate the night before the morning, or something like that. A lot can still happen before we see Harry 2.0 on the couch at home. Until the planned start in 2025, Rowling can still post dozens of questionable tweets, toxic fans can complain about what they think is a cast that is too diverse, and even more frustrated journalists can write the series badly in advance.
But the bet stands: Harry 2.0 will probably be a Squib. We expect magic and will be disappointed.
