Warner Bros. CEO wants Harry Potter movies if J.K. Rowling joins

• David Zaslav spoke on a conference call on November 3.
• Said they would try to make more Harry Potter movies.
• If they could collaborate with J.K. Rowling.

David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, spoke on a conference call on November 3 about a variety of topics, including his desire for the business to capitalize on the numerous franchises it owns.

The statement that they would try to make more Harry Potter movies if they could collaborate with author J.K. Rowling caught the most attention of all.

During the investor call, Zaslav stated, “We’re going to focus on franchises.”

“We haven’t had a Superman movie in 13 years. We haven’t done a Harry Potter in 15 years. The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of the profits for Warner Bros. … over the past 25 years. I’d like to see if we can do something with J.K. on Harry Potter going forward.”

Zaslav added that The Lord of the Rings movie rights were still held by the studio for theatrical use.

It is completely expected that Warner Bros. Discovery would want to visit Hogwarts again. The Potter franchise became a worldwide phenomenon, releasing eight movies over ten years in a nearly unprecedented manner with hardly any quality deterioration, grossing $7.7 billion at the box office, and receiving generally positive reviews.

The spin-off series Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, in which Rowling wrote the screenplays herself, has experienced diminishing returns and unfavorable critical reception.

The Secrets of Dumbledore, the most recent entry, received a lukewarm reception and only made $405.1 million globally.

Two more movies are required for the franchise to finish its run, but given the negative reception, these have not yet received official approval.

The absolute toxicity that Rowling now brings with her wherever she goes, however, is the biggest problem for the business.

The author has repeatedly reiterated her transphobic views on social media and has been outspoken about her views. Daniel Radcliffe, the franchise’s star, has previously expressed his displeasure with the person who created his most famous character.

He reiterated these sentiments while promoting his most recent film, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.

He recently explained to indieWire the motivation behind his remarks.

“The reason I was felt very, very much as though I needed to say something when I did was because, particularly since finishing ‘Potter,’ I’ve met so many queer and trans kids and young people who had a huge amount of identification with Potter on that. And so seeing them hurt on that day I was like, I wanted them to know that not everybody in the franchise felt that way. And that was really important,”

The Trevor Project, an organization that operates the biggest suicide prevention hotline in the world for LGBTQ+ youth, is where Radcliffe first posted an open letter.

Since 2010, Radcliffe has supported The Trevor Project. The question remains: Will people still want to see Harry Potter when he no longer collaborates with J.K. Rowling, despite WB/desperation Discovery’s for their magical cash cow to return and resume producing?

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