Is J.K. Rowling’s ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Franchise Dead at Warner Bros? - Variety

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” a $200 million-budgeted sequel successful the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, is an anomaly successful J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. With conscionable $405 cardinal astatine the planetary container office, it’s the archetypal movie successful the blockbuster franchise — retired of 11 — to conscionable hardly interruption even in its theatrical run.

The world that “Fantastic Beasts” is experiencing diminishing returns aft 3 movies is particularly painful, not lone to Rowling, who envisioned the prequel communicative arsenic a five-film franchise, but besides to its backer Warner Bros., which stake large connected the presumption that each things Hogwarts would stay applicable astatine the container bureau — whether oregon not Harry, Ron and Hermione were progressive successful the adventures that unfold connected screen.

Yet that hasn’t been the case. Though the 2nd installment, 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” didn’t wholly sputter with $654 cardinal astatine the worldwide container office, its rocky show enactment the aboriginal of Newt Scamander — the protagonist played by Eddie Redmayne — and institution successful question. Ticket income were down 20% from 2016’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which grossed much than $800 cardinal globally.

There wasn’t yet a screenplay for the 4th oregon 5th introduction by April 2022, erstwhile the 3rd “Fantastic Beasts” movie opened successful theaters. Executives astatine Warner Bros. were waiting to spot the reception toward “The Secrets of Dumbledore” earlier pumping resources into the last chapters successful the magical saga. Unlike the archetypal eight-film “Potter” franchise, which was adapted from a rich, doorstop of novels, Rowling lone has flimsy root material for “Fantastic Beasts.” So, though the spinoff communicative was barreling toward the full-scale Wizarding War that’s waged betwixt beloved Hogwarts prof Albus Dumbledore and the Voldemort-esque Gellert Grindelwald (you don’t request to beryllium a instrumentality of “Harry Potter” to cognize however the conflict ends), Rowling and Steve Kloves — who co-wrote “The Secrets of Dumbledore” — don’t person a intelligibly established blueprint to scope the expansive conclusion.

Months later, Warner Bros. doesn’t look to beryllium prioritizing different section successful the “Fantastic Beasts” universe. With “Dune” and “Wonder Woman 1984,” 2 caller Warner Bros. tentpoles, the workplace waited lone a fewer days aft those movies were released to denote plans for sequels. So, the funny soundlessness connected different “Fantastic Beasts” section isn’t precisely encouraging. It’s worthy noting, though, that “The Secrets of Dumbledore” opened astir the aforesaid clip arsenic the Warner Bros. Motion Pictures radical was enduring a authorities change, 1 that saw the exit of main Toby Emmerich and ascension of erstwhile MGM movie presidents Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.

Warner Bros., arsenic good arsenic representatives for Rowling, declined to comment.

Unless the “Fantastic Beasts” filmmaking squad manages to get cameras rolling successful the adjacent six months — and that seems improbable since there’s inactive nary screenplay successful beingness — the 4th movie wouldn’t beryllium released until 2025 astatine the earliest. There was a longer spread betwixt the 2nd and 3rd movies, which came retired 4 years apart, but the “Harry Potter” fandom isn’t getting immoderate younger. That’s a problem, particularly since the spinoff stories aren’t appealing to caller muggles, arsenic evidenced by little and little summons income for consequent installments.

There’s besides little inducement to enactment time, vigor and wealth successful the already-struggling series because, well, Rowling has go progressively arguable for her repeated comments against transgender women. The workplace has been wide it doesn’t privation out of the billion-dollar relationship, but heightened sensitivity astir the contentious writer means Warners is going to beryllium selective astir projects it needs her to promote.

And it’s not similar the movie theatre scenery has been forgiving successful the COVID era. Even acclaimed big-budget blockbusters person failed to make the benignant of coinage they were expected to marque successful pre-pandemic times, arsenic China and Russia, 2 large movie markets, are astir wholly closed disconnected to Hollywood films. That makes immoderate $200 million-budgeted tentpole a riskier proposition than ever.

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav hinted connected a caller net telephone astir the imaginable to bash “something” with Rowling connected different communicative successful the Wizarding World franchise “going forward.” However, helium stopped abbreviated of specifics. An evident prime would beryllium turning to the signifier amusement “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which picks up straight aft the epilogue successful “Deathly Hallows” and centers connected Harry, Ron, Hermione and their children. Adding to imaginable fervor: it’s not retired of the realm of possibilities to inquire the archetypal formed to reprise their roles. Warner Bros. is an capitalist successful the Tony-winning play, but Rowling owns the rights to “Cursed Child,” truthful the big-screen mentation requires the author’s approval.

Given the lackluster reception to the 3 movies successful existence, it whitethorn not beryllium astonishing that Warner Bros. has yet to definitively accidental whether the 4th and 5th “Fantastic Beasts” films volition beryllium completed arsenic intended. But the authorities of limbo is inactive unexpected considering “Harry Potter” has been positioned arsenic 1 of 2 flagship franchises (DC Comics is the other) to prop up the Warner Bros. diagnostic movie strategy astatine a clip erstwhile big-budget properties reign ultimate astatine the container office.

Presumably, that means the institution has small prime but to give outsized attraction to DC Studios, which is recently headed by filmmaker James Gunn and shaper Peter Safran. But DC’s movie output hasn’t matched the consistency oregon popularity of Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. Of course, the thought is that Gunn and Safran volition close the ship. Realistically, though, it could instrumentality years to physique a palmy slate of superhero stories.

In the meantime, it whitethorn instrumentality a small much than magic — and a batch of Liquid Luck — to find an enchanting mode to revive the Potterverse connected the large screen.