Could the Harry Potter Series End Early?
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, RumorMonger, Remakes and Sequels
If you thought the delayed release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was too much to bear, what about never ever getting to see how things wrap up on the big screen? In the wake of news that Disney had dumped Narnia, The Independent reports that Harry Potter could be next.Now it's not a completely out of left-field thought created for the article. It seems that screenwriter Steve Kloves "said recently that Warner Bros was worried about the prospects for the last three films in the series, since JK Rowling is no longer driving anticipation for the titles by producing new books." I guess Warner Brothers didn't hear the world-wide sighs and cries of pain after delaying Half-Blood.
While it's natural for a studio to entertain movie-cutting ideas when money is tight, it would be utterly ridiculous to end the Potter franchise with one left to go. Yes, The Subtle Knife won't follow The Golden Compass, and there's a good chance we won't get more Narnia, but there's a difference between almost flops and the most successful franchise ever. And if this rationale is true, that's just silly. The mere act of adapting books for the big screen means that the books have to wrap up before the movies do.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint
Daniel Radcliffe poses backstage at "Spring Awakening" on Broadway at The Eugene O'Neill Theater on December 21, 2008..Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Spring Awakening" On Broadway.Eugene O'Neil Theatre.New York, NY United States.December 21, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56399791), contact FilmMagic.com
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Daniel Radcliffe poses backstage at "Spring Awakening" on Broadway at The Eugene O'Neill Theater on December 21, 2008..Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Spring Awakening" On Broadway.Eugene O'Neil Theatre.New York, NY United States.December 21, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56399790), contact FilmMagic.com
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Hunter Parrish, Alexandra Socha, Daniel Radcliffe, Blake Daniel and Gerard Canonico pose backstage at "Spring Awakening" on Broadway at The Eugene O'Neill Theater on December 21, 2008..Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Spring Awakening" On Broadway.Eugene O'Neil Theatre.New York, NY United States.December 21, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56399787), contact FilmMagic.com
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Hunter Parrish, Alexandra Socha, Daniel Radcliffe and Gerard Canonico backstage at "Spring Awakening" on Broadway at The Eugene O'Neill Theater on December 21, 2008..Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Spring Awakening" On Broadway.Eugene O'Neil Theatre.New York, NY United States.December 21, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56399785), contact FilmMagic.com
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Daniel Radcliffe and Gerard Canonico chat backstage at "Spring Awakening" on Broadway at The Eugene O'Neill Theater on December 21, 2008..Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Spring Awakening" On Broadway.Eugene O'Neil Theatre.New York, NY United States.December 21, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56399782), contact FilmMagic.com
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Hunter Parrish, Alexandra Socha, Daniel Radcliffe and Gerard Canonico pose backstage at "Spring Awakening" on Broadway at The Eugene O'Neill Theater on December 21, 2008..Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Spring Awakening" On Broadway.Eugene O'Neil Theatre.New York, NY United States.December 21, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56399780), contact FilmMagic.com
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Hunter Parrish, Alexandra Socha, Daniel Radcliffe and Gerard Canonico pose backstage at "Spring Awakening" on Broadway at The Eugene O'Neill Theater on December 21, 2008..Daniel Radcliffe Visits "Spring Awakening" On Broadway.Eugene O'Neil Theatre.New York, NY United States.December 21, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56399778), contact FilmMagic.com
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Daniel Radcliffe and Frankie James Grande (who played Daniel in a skit) pose at the 2008 Gypsy of the Year which raised $3,061,148 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 9, 2008 in New York City..2008 Gypsy of the Year.The New Amsterdam Theatre.New York City, New York United States.December 9, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56345279), contact FilmMagic.com
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Daniel Radcliffe performs a song and dance at the 2008 Gypsy of the Year which raised $3,061,148 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 9, 2008 in New York City..2008 Gypsy of the Year.The New Amsterdam Theatre.New York City, New York United States.December 9, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56345264), contact FilmMagic.com
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Daniel Radcliffe performs a song and dance at the 2008 Gypsy of the Year which raised $3,061,148 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS at the New Amsterdam Theatre on December 9, 2008 in New York City..2008 Gypsy of the Year.The New Amsterdam Theatre.New York City, New York United States.December 9, 2008.Photo by Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic.com..To license this image (56345260), contact FilmMagic.com
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
12-30-2008 @ 10:39AM
Naf said...
What a load of crap. These movies are massive hits, and next one was pushed back by months so that it could be a tentpoll for next summer, and the sales for J.K Rowlings last Harry Potter related book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, sold huge amounts. And that was just a little book of short stories. She's already planning on writing some kind of Potter encyclopidia, so even if WB were worried about how well the next ones will do, they can just release it along side that. No way is WB going to let go of a franchise which is sucessful all around the world. Just think what they'll be missing out on in all 7 film box sets alone!
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12-30-2008 @ 11:11AM
Bill said...
I think they will obviously go ahead and complete the film series. Hollywood had a good box office year but I think if they are worried about the coming year it would not be a big deal to restrict the budget a bit on the last film (not that I want to see a lot of cheesey CGI, but frankly, I think the Potter movies are good despite the special effects).
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12-30-2008 @ 11:55AM
Jessica said...
If this is true I rather they do the last movie as just one movie rather than split into two parts as reported. I know folks want to bash me regarding this but HEY! it would be much better than nothing. Besides its just one more movie not like Narnia that still has a couple more books *_*
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1-05-2009 @ 8:29AM
Lily said...
Sorry to disappoint you Jessica, but Narnia has more than just a couple more books to go in the series. When Lord Of The Rings was made, yes they were long but there were only the three books. Harry has seven in the series and Narnia has seven also. I hope the studios finish the Potter series because a lot of people have put alot of time and effort into reading the books and going to the movies and then there's all the merchandise that goes with them. I really hope they don't wuss out and drop the series before it's finished.
12-30-2008 @ 12:02PM
Jimmy said...
Who comes up with this stuff? According to Box Office Mojo, the combined world-wide gross of the Harry Potter films is $4.5 billion, and that doesn't even include DVD. This is a cash cow for Warner Bros., and only a fool would consider not finishing this film series; especially considering the events of Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows. Hell, the Battle of Hogwarts in Deathly Hallows is tailor-made for the big screen.
Narnia is a completely different issue. The books these films are based on have not been part of the mainstream popular culture for several decades. There may be a lot of people in their 30s and 40s who have fond memories of these books but the 20s and under have barely heard of them. Moreover, the Narnia books have never had the popularity of Tolkien's novels. Just look at any list citing the best books of the 20th century and you'll find The Lord of the Rings at least in the top 50, and usually in the top 10. Narnia is nowhere to be seen.
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1-01-2009 @ 10:54PM
Stella said...
Exactly. Warner Bros. make so much money off Harry Potter (as mentioned above: "the combined world-wide gross of the Harry Potter films is $4.5 billion") that they would never decide to end the series early.
Why do you think they chose to split the seventh film? To drag the series out longer and make more money off it.
WB doesn't want to finish the series. And they won't.
Can you imagine the fan reaction? How annoyed were the fans when they delayed Half-Blood Prince? Deciding not to do the remaining two films (yes, two- the seventh book split in half) would pretty much make the fandom ridiculously angry, and that's a bad idea.
1-05-2009 @ 1:49PM
Kate said...
Not only is the Battle of Hogwarts tailor-made for the big screen, but my brother-in-law and I both got the distinct impression that MOST of Deathly Hallows was written with the movie audiences in mind. Warner Brother's isn't stupid. Baring a major catastrophe, the last few movies WILL get made.
12-30-2008 @ 6:25PM
timmyb28 said...
I agree Jimmy. Who comes up with this stuff? There is NO ONE at Warners Bros saying, "Let's pull the plug on this Harry Potter movie thingy." That person would be kindly let go. The Potter movies are like printing money. I'm extremely pumped to see the Battle of Hogwarts on the Big Screen. And that's two movies to go. Ridiculous reporting by the Independent.
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12-30-2008 @ 7:37PM
Beeslo said...
They didn't hear the cries of anguish due to the delay of HP6??? What were they wanting? Riots in the street? Hell, I got an earful from my girlfriend who has never read the books but loves the movies. I guess I should have told her to go rob a bank and hold its occupants hostage so that Warner Brothers would know that the delay caused much distress in her life. Idiots.
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1-05-2009 @ 8:42AM
larissa said...
LOL. your comment made my tired morning a tad better. actually, my boyfriend and I didn't even hear about the delay - we saw the trailer and opening day never came. we just wondered what the hell happened to it.
12-30-2008 @ 9:29PM
joits said...
i agree... ridiculous article by the independent. at minimum, the harry potter movies make $250 million domestically and only one (prisoner of azkahban) made less than $300 million. if the warner bros are too stupid to actually release the two movies for deathly hallows, you know that every other studio will gladly step in...
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12-31-2008 @ 4:26PM
Ben said...
It must have been a slow news day for The Independent. Warner Brothers will complete the Harry Potter series of movies. As has already been commented, it's a license to print money. If Disney makes decent coin from the 3-D re-releases of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 - Warners will do exactly the same with the Harry Potter movies.
Movies of the last two books also gives the publishers the perfect opportunity to reprint the books.
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12-31-2008 @ 4:26AM
Cam said...
I hate to be baited into this, but I have to comment:
This article is ridiculous and has no backing. The HP series when all is said and done will be probably the biggest film franchise of all time (maybe except for bond) moneywise. HP is WB's cash cow, whereas Narnia was not Disney's (that honor goes to Pirates). And the Narnia films got pretty much no critical acclaim, and box office numbers decreased dramatically between films. HP has pretty much stayed level throughout the first 5 films and probably won't tail off with the remaining 3. This is just a bunch of crap and it's stupid that its even being reported.
Stop starting stupid rumors
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1-05-2009 @ 6:57PM
Emma said...
You're SO right. There are too many HP fans. There is a HUGE fanbase and these movies have raked in practically BILLIONS of dollars. No way they're gonna cancel it.
1-05-2009 @ 8:57AM
Gary Mooney said...
Thier taking too long period.. they should make 3 movies at a time and market them 6 mos apart ..the kids are ageing so fast its going to have to be a college not just a school ...
Most of the time is special effects , so knock out 3 story lines and finish the other stuff later before the kids have kids of thier own
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1-05-2009 @ 12:56PM
Marie said...
EXACTLY how I feel. Well said.
1-05-2009 @ 8:59AM
Shirley said...
I know a lot of people were upset when they changed the date of the Half Blood Prince movie to this year. The Harry Potter movies and books are classic and the remaining movies need to be made and shown to complete the series. I and my family are looking forward to the last two movies.
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1-05-2009 @ 9:20AM
monica said...
This is stupid not to finish Harry Potter movies. What is wrong
with you people. I have read all the books enjoy all the movies. Harry Potter is a big hit and always will be. You want to cut Harry Potter but what about all the ones you are showing now. I would not waste my time or money on these coming out. To many to list. One journey to the center of the
earth not very good this is one example. Please finish the Harry Potter movies. My grandkids are wanting to read the books when they get older and they love the movies as much as me. You are taking to long filiming these Harry Potters the
kids are getting older and they need to be filmed closer together.
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1-05-2009 @ 9:19AM
monica said...
Another good one quit remaking movies have you run out of ideas.. Like the day the earth stood still...........Harry Potter are not remakes they are one of a kind each and every movie and they are worth every penny for the books, movie tickets, and the DVDs.
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1-05-2009 @ 9:16AM
Bonnie said...
ok...as much as HP as been enjoyable, I don't see why exactly people see the need to say that it's gotta a better chance than Narnia...they both have seven books, they both were written for kids, and they both deal with fantasy.... beyond that the Narnia series has not been "dropped" .... walden media is still (as of when I last heard) planning on producing them, only Disney left.
I also don't understand why one person thought that the narnia series was outdated for our generation and that lord of the rings was more popular? first off, the narnia books are still being read by kids in school, performed in plays, and was definitely the book series I read as a kid; i never heard of the Lord of the Rings until the movie came out, and while i may not define most americans, the fact is that kids everywhere are still loving BOTH books, especially now that they both have movies.
One other question i have, is how can you saw that LOTR is more popular? I'd argue that yeah, it's popular, but with who? Young kids certainly know about the books, but the length, content, and language used is above the level of a lot of young kids (not all, but most).... some parents don't want their kids exposed to the violence, some kids don't want to read a book of that length, some kids can't understand the themes....so most younger kids are going to read the shorter, less violent, more kid-friendly Narnia. saying that LOTR is better than Narnia is just a matter of opinion, akin to saying that red is better than blue.
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