Warner Bros. Discovery Boss Wants More ‘Harry Potter’ Movies If J.K. Rowling Will Agree - Hollywood Reporter

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is keen to exploit the company’s franchises — and that includes the anticipation of making much Harry Potter films, if thing tin beryllium worked retired with writer J.K. Rowling.

“We’re going to absorption connected franchises,” Zaslav said during an investor’s telephone Thursday. “We haven’t had a Superman movie successful 13 years. We haven’t done a Harry Potter successful 15 years. The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a batch of the profits for Warner Bros. … implicit the past 25 years.”

The enforcement went connected to enactment the workplace inactive has the theatrical rights to Lord of the Rings, and went backmost astir to the thought of much Harry Potter, noting he’d similar to spot more: “If we tin bash thing with J.K. connected Harry Potter going forward.”

It’s noteworthy that Zaslav dangled the anticipation of much Potter astatine an investor’s meeting, with the venue suggesting it was much than conscionable wishful thinking.

Warner Bros. released 8 Harry Potter films from 2001-2011 that grossed $7.7 cardinal globally. It partnered with Rowling connected the Fantastic Beasts franchise, which has been a lawsuit of diminishing returns astatine the container office. The astir caller installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, debuted successful April and earned $405.1 cardinal globally. It is unclear if the workplace volition determination guardant with the 2 planned films to circular retired its five-picture arc.

In the years since Potter, Rowling has go a arguable fig and has been accused of transphobia. Star Daniel Radcliffe has been among those who person responded with enactment for the trans assemblage successful airy of tweets and comments Rowling has made.

Zaslav’s overture to Rowling comes aft determination person been incidents fans interpreted arsenic signs of hostility betwixt Warners and the author, which some sides person denied. She was not portion of the caller HBO reunion peculiar (she aboriginal said she was invited but declined). Earlier, her sanction was nearly wholly near off the archetypal trailer for Secrets of Dumbledore. The workplace enactment retired a connection knocking backmost reports of discord: “For 20 years, Warner Bros., J.K. Rowling and her squad person worked unneurotic to delight fans astir the satellite with spectacular storytelling and the magic of the Wizarding World.”

Rowling worked connected the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which debuted successful 2016. Chris Columbus, the filmmaker down the precise first Potter, has expressed involvement successful directing an adaptation.