Okay, so we all got a little excited yesterday when Daniel Radcliffe mentioned the potential for a movie adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Specifically, Radcliffe addressed the idea of Warner Bros. inviting him to reprise the role of Harry for a Cursed Child movie adaptation that could allegedly happen as soon as 2020.
Although Radcliffe’s response to the rumors seemed to be a confirmation of sorts, the Cursed Child movie may yet remain in the realm of rumor. The original story from the NY Daily News says that anonymous sources within Hollywood were talking about Warner Bros. moving ahead on an adaptation, but no one went on the record about it. Today, Warner Bros. released a statement that outright denied the claim, saying: “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a stage play, with no plans for there to be a film.”
Fair enough, Warner Bros.—but ya gotta admit you’re tempted, right? But we’ve seen this problem before; this is the same reason why there isn’t a Hamilton movie yet and why there are not plans to make one any time soon. Since Cursed Child is a stage play, the theatrical producers probably want to be sure that as many people will go to see it as possible, so I doubt they’re in any big hurry to make it widely accessible in a movie that will end up having a larger circulation and might make the live theatrical version feel less special as a result.
Also, Cursed Child was written for the stage and explicitly designed to be a play, and that’s what its creative team keeps on emphasizing every time people ask about a book adaptation or a movie adaptation. Sure, you can buy the script online and read it, but it’s a play script, not a book. And sure, there will probably be a movie adaptation eventually (I’d be shocked if there wasn’t), but it won’t be the same as the play. Ultimately, Cursed Child is “supposed” to be a stage play, and I’m sure the creative team behind the project is not in any hurry to see it get co-opted into anything else.
Meanwhile, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them comes out on November 18th, so clearly, Warner Bros. isn’t shy about adapting as much Harry Potter stuff as possible … so long as they have the rights, anyway.
(via Screen Rant, image via The Week)
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