Rumor: Warner Bros. Likes Money, Wants Daniel Radcliffe For ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ Trilogy
Just last month, Warner Bros. filed for a trademark on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the hit stage play (the script was also released in book form) that serves as the eighth installment in J.K. Rowling’s classic series. While that doesn’t necessarily indicate that WB is plotting a new Harry Potter movie, a new rumor suggests that that’s exactly what it means — and they want Daniel Radcliffe to return for not just one, but three films.
The rumor originates at New York Daily News, and while their intel is occasionally spot-on, you should probably process this one with a healthy amount of skepticism:
Warners is secretly working on getting the movie rights and a screenplay settled, and of course in their minds only one man should be Harry. However he has made it clear that his mind is certainly not focused on returning to the role anytime soon — and that could be until he hits 40.
That age would make more sense, anyway, as Harry Potter is in his late 30s in Cursed Child, which centers on his three children — particularly the troubled young Albus, who feels consumed by his father’s shadow.
Radcliffe doesn’t exactly need to return to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter; he’s maintained a successful film career since The Deathly Hallows, recently appearing in the acclaimed indie Swiss Army Man and white supremacist drama Imperium. That said, this is what Radcliffe had to say back in June about potentially reprising his iconic role:
It would depend on the script. The circumstances would have to be pretty extraordinary. But then I am sure Harrison Ford said that with Han Solo and look what happened there! So I am saying ‘no’ for now, but leaving room to backtrack in the future.
New York Daily News claims that WB wants to make a trilogy of Cursed Child films, with the first installment planned for 2020. But that date doesn’t make too much sense, as the studio’s third Fantastic Beasts film is set to arrive that year (the second is planned for 2018). If Radcliffe started production on Cursed Child in 2018, he’d only be 29 years old — not quite old enough for the elder Potter.
WB did file for a trademark on the new Harry Potter play, but that could’ve easily been a bit of routine business to protect their brand. It’s also worth remembering that J.K. Rowling has publicly stated that Cursed Child will not become a film because it functions better as a stage play. (Then again, she also swore that she was done with Harry Potter, and here we are; in addition to the stage play, Rowling is planning to release three collections of short stories that take place in the Potterverse.)
Again, take all of this with a grain of salt for the time being, but it wouldn’t be surprising if WB did move ahead with a Cursed Child movie (or three) — I mean, who doesn’t like money?