Troll: The Rise Of Harry Potter Jr. Announced

As they gear up for a prequel series, one of Warner Bros.’ biggest film franchises is about to get Trolled.

The rights-holders to the cult ’80s horror franchise Troll have announced plans for an animated feature film and TV series titled Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter, Jr.

Harry Potter and his son Harry Potter, Jr. were both characters who appeared in the 1986 film, before J.K. Rowling created a literary and cinematic phenomenon via a young wizard of the same name.

In what the press release cleverly calls the “world of wizardry” of Troll, “a wicked, magical troll wizard envisages taking over the world. Only Harry Potter, Jr., with the help of a magical witch, can save the planet from the clutches of the troll wizard and his evil force.”

John Carl Buechler, who wrote and directed the original film, has agreed to co-produce the full-length 3D animated feature along with Peter Davy. Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette has been signed for the voice of the witch, and child actor Baxter Bartlett is slated to be the voice of young Harry Potter, Jr.

“The original Troll film has achieved cult status, and based upon its success we believed that the timing was right to produce an updated 3D animated version for a whole new generation of filmgoers.” said Buechler.

“We are already in pre-production,” Davy added. “We have the financing in place and a strong international distributor. We are envisioning a series of animated sequels along with an animated TV series.”

The film is slated for release in early 2017. An animated TV series is also expected to go into production for release next year, and there is talk of adding an attraction to the Window To Eurasia theme park in China.

That the series will capitalize on the “Harry Potter” coincidence isn’t a unique phenomenon. You an see similar maneuvers in comics with characters like Captain Marvel and Daredevil, with the original in each of those cases getting the decidedly wrong end of the stick.