Warner Bros. Discovery Exec Says Harry Potter Expansion Is "Just Starting"
The future of the Wizarding World franchise is currently a bit murky, as studio Warner Bros. Discovery pivoted to developing prequel films following the conclusion of the original Harry Potter franchise, and while reports claim the planned final Fantastic Beasts films have been put on hold indefinitely, Warner Bros. Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels offered a promising update on the franchise's expansion. The recently released video game Hogwarts Legacy has renewed interest in the series, while an all-new Harry Potter tour is set to launch in Tokyo later this year, with Wiedenfels using these extensions to tease that there's even more Harry Potter on the horizon.
"Take Harry Potter as an example, the Wizarding World, the fact that we are enjoying this massive success with the Hogwarts Legacy launch, 12 years after the last film came out, shows that there is so much opportunity and we're only just starting to expand that," Wiedenfels shared while speaking about the studio's promising properties during a panel at Morgan Stanley's investor conference, per Variety. "We've got the new Harry Potter tour coming up in Tokyo in the middle of the year. Long story short, I think this one-company approach, great leadership in the individual business units, but coordinated franchise management is probably one of the biggest opportunities the company has."
While these remarks are surely promising, they will still leave audiences guessing as to other ways the Wizarding World will expand.
The Fantastic Beasts films were initially planned as earning five installments, but with each entry in the series being disappointments both critically and financially, that prequel series has stagnated and no updates have emerged in the past year about the next installment. Previous reports had claimed that HBO Max was aiming to develop a TV series set in the franchise, but with the streamer cutting back on its original programming, it seems as though any plans for that project have also been put on a hiatus.
Even though there's no confirmed plans for the live-action future of the franchise, Harry Potter and the Wizarding World are still a dominating brand around the world. Universal Parks & Resorts' The Wizarding World of Harry Potter locations, for example, immerse fans in the world of the franchise at four separate global locations, confirming the popularity of the brand and the vested interest of the studio to continue developing new stories for the franchise.
Stay tuned for updates on the future of the Wizarding World.
Are you looking forward to seeing the franchise expand? Let us know in the comments!