The Harry Potter series on HBO Max proves the desperation to make the universe of JK Rowling profitable

When talk began earlier this month about the possibility of HBO Max, now simply Max, remaking the ‘Harry Potter’ saga of novels into a series, we couldn’t help but argue why it’s a terrible idea, but after its confirmation and a pompous presentation, our impressions are only endorsed. Not only is this a terrible idea, it’s that demonstrates a fatal combo of desperation, fear of failure, desire to get our money’s worth and lack of imagination that backs down. And the reason, or the fault (depending on how you look at it), could have a clear source: JK Rowling herself and her ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film of hers.

The mine of the great franchises

At a time when the streaming wars are being fought with IPs as weapons (meaning high-caliber intellectual properties with the potential to become big franchises), Warner Bros. Discovery, the company behind Max, has brought out the big guns. . On April 12, announced that a good handful of its biggest brands had new projects underway or about to launch: Matt Reeves’ ‘The Batman’ expansion through ‘The Penguin’ series, ‘Gremlins’ animated series, ‘Rick and Morty’ anime spin-off, new ‘Big Bang’ spin-off series Theory’, the prequel series to ‘It’ called ‘Welcome to Derry’ and many more. Of course, they are still determined that DC catches up, cinematically and on television, to Marvel, and they will continue to expand the universe of ‘Game of Thrones’. And then there is the world of Potter (whose official name is Wizarding World, although practically no one calls it that).

That sooner or later we would have a series of live action and other products derived from the magical universe devised by JK Rowling was something practically inevitable and only a matter of time and coming up with a sufficiently attractive idea. However, only one of those two things, time, has been necessary; the idea, on the other hand, is conspicuous by its absence: Warner Bros. Discovery is committed to re-shooting the same stories from the seven ‘Harry Potter’ bookswith a new cast, only in series format and at a rate of one season per volume or more, since it has been announced as a plan for the next ten years (which could be due to some books splitting into two seasons, as happened with the two films of ‘The Deathly Hallows’ or, simply, that their complex filming delays the premiere of each adaptation to more than one per year).

oh no you again

Be that as it may, before its premiere (which we should not expect before 2025 or 2026) we will experience a barrage of news about actor signings, rumors and other various controversies that continue to agitate the potterheads of the world. Hovering all this time is the question of whether it is necessary to redo something that hasn’t even had time to get old (the movies still look great for new viewers) or whether there is enough material in the books to expand them into an eight season or so. ten chapters, starting with one of the simplest such as the inaugural ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’. But, even more interesting than this debate, it is worth considering another: Why?

The quick answer is, of course, to continue squeezing the goose that lays the golden eggs. But let’s go one step further: why this and not something new to complement those books and movies that are still current and offer new material to fans?why not follow the path of expanded universes from ‘Star Wars, ‘Game of Thrones’ or ‘The Lord of the Rings’? Seriously, why the same thing again?

Around with JK Rowling

When Casey Bloys, CEO and head of content for Max, was asked at the presentation of the new project about JK Rowling’s controversies over her anti-trans war, he slipped away: “I don’t think this is the forum [para discutirlo]. It’s a very online, very nuanced and complicated conversation and it’s not something we’re going to get into. Our priority is what happens on the screen“. Then, he wanted to highlight the positive values ​​of the IP, but without going into the garden: “Obviously, the Harry Potter story is incredibly positive and is about love and self-acceptance. That’s our priority: what’s on the screen.”

It seemed that he wanted to separate the work and the author, celebrating the values ​​​​of the multi-million dollar magical franchise and hiding the elephant in the room that Rowling has become with his Twitter rantings. What is obvious there is that they need JK Rowling and her approval to advance their plans with the Potter universe. In fact, at the same event, Bloys confirmed that “she will be involved. She is an executive producer of the series. Her ideas will be useful.” However, other statements by David Zaslav, president of Warner Bros. Discovery, they open the door for there to be other content outside of the seven novels and, furthermore, for the writer not to be necessarily involved: “We are free to do what we want. There are some areas that we have to do with JK and other areas in which we have full capacity to move forward,” he said in a way that was as intriguing as it was imprecise. Will we really see the Potterverse run its course without its author at the controls?

Between lack of imagination and failure

That content that Zaslav points out would, of course, be much more imaginative and stimulating than telling the same story a second time in audiovisual format. AND the possibilities are endless: from the series on ‘The Marauders’ to a review of the original Order of the Phoenix, going through something about aurors or death eaters, biographies of famous wizards, the history of the founders of the four houses of Hogwarts or any story set beyond the school of witchcraft and wizardry in the United Kingdom and that takes place within the walls of the much lesser known Durmstrang, Beauxbatons, Ilvermorny, Mahoukotoro, Castelobruxo and Uagadou. The Wizarding World can be expanded as much as you like, but it takes drive and creative ambition. And ideas. Good ideas, if possible.

It is there where we return to the saga ‘Fantastic Beasts and where to find them’ and its fiasco. While the first movie, while clunky and poorly developed at times, seemed to be the first piece of an expanded universe with potential, the two sequels that would follow would negate the biggest: they were not up to the original saga, with puny scripts by JK Rowling herselfimpossible plot advances and even errors with respect to its own canon (such as that of Dumbledore being a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, when we all know that he taught Transformations before being headmaster of the school).

And it’s not just that the fans have had enough or that there is a certain current of opinion against the tapes; The box office data also speak clearly: if the first of the three films grossed more than eight hundred million dollars worldwide, the third, ‘Dumbledore’s Secrets’ was half. People got off the car before the poor quality of the content. It has been a failure by all accounts: In 2016, Rowling assured that the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ saga would be made up of five films, but last year it was confirmed that Warner Bros. Discovery has closed this stage and there are no more tapes in development.

The truth is that, since Rowling closed the Harry Potter story with ‘The Deathly Hallows’, the success of the rest of the derivative products, as well as their quality, have been relative and questionable. Both the play ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ (with its subsequent publication as a book) and the first ‘Fantastic Beasts’ film worked more because of the inertia of the franchise than on their own merits.while the generation of boys and girls who grew up with Harry Potter have begun to turn their backs on its author for going against the values ​​they seemed to have learned from its pages.

Now, Max seems to be aware of Rowling’s difficulties in expanding the Hogwarts universe wisely., so they have gone easy. That the whole world will see the first episode of the ‘Harry Potter’ series and break records on the platform? There is no doubt. Another thing is how long that balloon will last inflated. The figures of ‘The rings of power’, perhaps, can give us a clue.