They don’t make franchises like HARRY POTTER anymore—franchises with a beginning, middle and then end on an extremely epic, emotionally powerful note. Nowadays movie franchises are all about continuation, and what one chapter means for the next. Those ones won’t end until people get tired of them, and will most likely end with a whimper in a ditch somewhere. As for Potter, though his time on the big screen was suitably magical, his wand and robe have been officially retired.
At least that’s what we thought five years ago when the final movie debuted, but now there is a play about Potter currently being performed in London’s West End—with a copy of the script in book form being released yesterday. However, at the premiere of the play this weekend, author J.K. Rowling spoke to the press (via EW), and laid down the final word on whether the famous wizard will go on yet another adventure:
[Harry] goes on a very big journey during these two plays and, then, yeah, I think we’re done. This is the next generation, you know. So, I’m thrilled to see it realized so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now.
The woman sounds very certain her time with the character is done, but I think when looking towards the future of The Boy Who Lived we should be referencing STAR WARS, if anything. I’m sure George Lucas thought he was done after RETURN OF THE JEDI, and then he probably thought he was definitely done after REVENGE OF THE SITH. But even though he was done, people like J.J. Abrams came along, proving there were still stories left to tell with those characters, even after all these years. And even if someone else doesn’t get approval from Rowling to take over Potter and the gang, we can still at least hope that in 15 years the original cast of the movies will come along and do a film version of THE CURSED CHILD. By that time I'm sure the cast will have aged like fine butterbeer.
Until then, we have the spinoff FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM coming out on November 18 to give us our wizarding fix.