J.K. Rowling Shuts Down 'Cursed Child' Movie Trilogy Rumors

"Harry Potter" fans have had it good the last couple of years, with lots of new Potter-centric content to devour from a wealth of sources, including fan site Pottermore, the new prequel flick "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" (and its four sequels), and the sequel play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." But according to "Potter" creator J.K. Rowling, that embarrassment of riches does not include a "Cursed Child" trilogy featuring the original film franchise's actors.

Rowling took to Twitter on Friday to deny reports that Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint were negotiating deals to reprise their roles as Harry, Hermione, and Ron in a "Cursed Child" series that was to have been released beginning in 2026, when their ages matched up to those of the characters in the play. The rumor mill started churning when blogs picked up on a recent podcast that alluded to an alleged conversation between film distributor Warner Bros. and the trio of actors about reuniting for a "Force Awakens"-style series that would have them return to the roles that made them famous.

But Rowling shut such speculation down, telling followers, "there is NO TRUTH to the rumour about a #CursedChild movie trilogy!"

I know a lot of people are looking for reasons to be cheerful today, but there is NO TRUTH to the rumour about a #CursedChild movie trilogy!

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 20, 2017

While another rumor about a "Cursed Child" trilogy, also starring Radcliffe, broke last year shortly after the premiere of the play, it was strongly denied by Warner Bros., which said it had "no plans" to make those movies. But according to ScreenRant, what made this new rumor more credible was that it came from Jim Hill, described by the site as a "legendary theme park journalist and historian ... whose contacts at Disney and Universal run well into the movie and television divisions."

During an appearance on the Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast last week, Hill alluded to NBC Universal -- which has the current television rights to the "Potter" series and "Fantastic Beasts" -- also claiming rights "when they're finally made – [to] the trilogy of movies that will be based on 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.'"

Hill went on to say that there have already been discussions with the actors about these new films:

I have heard that Warner Bros. has actually had conversations with [Emma Watson], with Rupert [Grint], and, of course, Daniel [Radcliffe] about Cursed Child, 'cause they want this to be, for lack of a better term, Harry Potter: The Force Awakens. They want this trilogy of movies to have the actors that we know and love from the original films, that we watched grow up, as adults. And, of course, they're hiring a bunch of new, younger actors to play their children with the hope that, if we can lean on J.K. [Rowling], maybe there'll be The Cursed Adolescent."

Sadly, Rowling's statement makes all of that a moot point. While we have no doubt that Warner Bros. will eventually explore some sort of big screen adaptation for "Cursed Child" -- and may indeed try to woo Radcliffe, Watson, and Grint to return -- it's way too early for such speculation. The play still needs to make its Broadway debut stateside, and the actors have a lot of growing up to do if they're going to realistically reprise their roles.

Maybe someday there will be some truth to this rumor. For now, we'll enjoy the actual, plentiful "Potter" content we do have.

[via: ScreenRant]

from Moviefone News RSS Feed - Moviefone.com http://ift.tt/2j2nyVE
via IFTTT