December 30, 2008 | by Ross Miller 

A Premature End For The Harry Potter Movies?

Daniel Radcliff as Harry PotterAfter the recent news that Disney has pulled out of producing the third Narnia film, we have the surprising word going around that the last installments in the Harry Potter franchise might not make their way onto the big-screen, either (don’t worry – Half-Blood Prince is not included in that statement).

Now before any die hard fans of the series get up in arms it’s not really a cast iron piece of news but rather something that was alluded to by Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves, who said that:

“…Warner Bros. was worried about the prospects of the last three films in the series, since J. K. Rowling is no longer driving anticipation for the titles by producing new books.”

Now hold on a second – I can understand a company like Disney not wanting to bankroll another installment in the Narnia franchise since the last film didn’t do anywhere near as well as had been hoped and expected. And you can even understand WB’s choice not to produce the sequel to The Golden Compass, because the first one only managed to garner $70 million in the US (although luckily for WB it managed to make $300 worldwide – to make some, but not as much as expected, profit).

But I don’t understand (and I’m sure I’m not alone here), how Warner Bros. could think even for the slightest of moments that a Harry Potter film wouldn’t make tons of money at the box office. Whether there are new books being released or not, the remaining installments are going to do just as well as the other films… perhaps even better because they show the story drawing to a close. Harry Potter has already proven itself to be the most financially successful film franchise of all time.

I hope that Warner Bros. really comes to their senses and puts any sense of doubt about the potential box office success of the remaining Potter movies firmly to rest. WB, if you’re reading this, trust us web guys when we say it: Harry Potter is safe; it will make truckloads of cash no matter what.

So what do you make of this piece of semi-news? Do you think Warner Bros. will persist with their doubts in the potential box office success of the last films in the series – or do you think they’ll put worry to rest?

Source: The Independant

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Tags: harry potter,

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  • the reason none of those films garnered that much attention as well as the first narnia installment and all the other Walden enterprises was because plain and simple: they were not Harry Potter films.
    Narnia(the first one) did well only because it was some sort of spawn of a Potter/lord of the rings that seemed on paper to be too brilliant to pass up.
    However, Walden banked on follow ups aswell as other "kiddie-sci-fi series of books" to make money off of..."the seeker??Golden Compass??,there are like 3 others that at the moment Ican't think of.."Harry Potter" broke in these type of movies, it only seems fitting that it should be the one to end them for good til the next "kiddie-suspense" series come out..oh wait it already has...its called"Twilight"....
  • Vincent
    It would be really stupid if they stop to make movies of Harry Potter. I mean, it's not as if the crowd would ignore it. Look aat it this way. Some people feel lazy to read the books. Well we cant blame them, can we? Please look on other perspectives as well.
  • Emily
    NO!!! warnor bros can't do this, they r stupid! any harry potter fan would die 2 go see the movies and warnor bros would make millions! it is all back 2 the money game yet again, that is why they moved the 6th harry potter, not because twilight was needing a chance, to make sure that they made as much money as possible. if u r a hp fan and went 2 see twilight 2 get back at them, u were not the only 1, i did 2.
  • Smike
    Well, if they ever decided to kill th seventh movie it would be my last day on Earth! Seriously. This is so sick. I'm sick of Hollywood studios standing in the way of great franchises. I've invested too much money and emotions into this franchise to let it die. And in my book, WB doesn't have the right to deprive us of the conclusion, NOT AFTER SIX MOVIES! If they ever decided to to so, there would be hell to pay!!!

    First Disney's Narnia, then Watchmen destroyed by Fox and now then most precious movie franchise on Earth? What's next? Tolkien Jr. killing the Hobbit? Oh wait, that's already happening. I've got no further interest in discussing these things. I want to see HP 7, even if I had to buy the copyrights from those freakin WB people!

    They could do away with the split, though. One "Deathly Hallow" would be fair enough if they decided not to produce two seperate movies! I could live with that but not without the conclusion!
  • 790
    The question marks are all part of the horror.
    8-)
    Happy new year Harry Potter freaks! Lol
    8-)
  • 790
    Horror,,,,the horror,,,
    Do you know what horror means ? Young Joshi ???????

    Its bad stuff.
  • 790
    Once upon a time (5 months ago), I was in a Video rental store, the film they had playing up on the monitors (all throughout the store) was drilling into me like one of those things in the Matrix,,, as I ran for the exit I asked the clerk, "what is this madness??" !!!

    I slowed down only for a moment as I heard him say,,,
    "The Golden Compass,,,"

    I then dry heaved a little in the parking lot, and contemplated suing the store.
    But then I bird crapped on my sleeve and I just left angry...

    Ask me sir what I think of the Golden Compass ,and prepair for a sitdown...!
  • greenknight333
    @ Joshi

    Thanks for the post, very informative.. :)
  • greenknight333
    With the ending I guess they were hoping for the franchise and they were setting it up for the next film...I agree with the ending as well it was rather contrived and forced..
  • greenknight333
    Thanks for the response Joshi !! :)

    Cheers
  • greenknight333
    This is a bunch of malarkey, balderdash and unmitigated tripe..The Potter franchise is the fourth most successful franchise of all time right now(behind Star Wars (8films), Bond (20-odd films) and Batman(8 films)) and will in all likelihood be number one by the time all eight films are completed..It has made 4,5 billion globally not including DVD rentals, DVD sales and merchandising, TV revenue,hotel and other revenue streams..Something like this is pure speculation and has no credibility being on a site as great as this..
  • greenknight333
    For the record I watched the Golden Compass and I thought it was okay although Dakota Blue Richards got on my nerves..brat was only a joke..
  • greenknight333
    @ Joshi

    "A movie’s considered a success when it brings back 3 times it’s budget (to cover marketing and other stuff). The Golden Compass wasn’t a complete failure, but it wasn’t the success New Line was looking for and also considering Critics panned it and most people didn’t much like it, there’s little reason for them to do a sequel."

    Three times it's production budget to show a profit..If that were the case no movies would be made...I disagree with your statement since it is a well known fact that studios get at least 55-65% of a films box office in their coffers(for tentpoles anyways)..what killed Golden Compass for New Line was that they were moronic enough to sell the overseas rights to another studio...

    Cheers
  • greenknight333
    I hate it when my comments don't get posted...Two trapped by the Spammer-Man
  • greenknight333
    Everytime I use the word poppycock my comments get trapped by Spammer Man
  • greenknight333
    Hogwart's Hogwash, malarkey, balderdash, poppycock...this is so far out there..that it does not even warrant reporting...I mean the most succesful franchise(at least it will be by the time the others are finished; Star Wars, Batman and Bond are ahead in terms of box office dollars) of all time and to say they won't finish it..Worldwide the Potter films have made over 4.5 BILLION not counting DVD rentals, DVD sales or merchandising...Like I said this story is ridiculous...
  • PhotoShopLifter Dan
    @ Scully-

    Well, Sarah Palin DID wear a lot of red...(*runs from room, pelted by soiled DVDs of "She-Devil"*)

    Re: Harry Potter

    Give it a few years, and they'll do a reboot...
  • alittlebitluna
    If it means screwing over the fans, WB will do it. They're evil.
  • Metallicat79
    They have one book left, so it makes no sense to hang it up now. At least with Narnia and The Golden Compess they found out eraly on that it was not going to work out as expected.
  • @Joshi

    Of course it's ridiculous - this was more of a speculative post:

    "it’s not really a cast iron piece of news but rather something that was alluded to by Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves"

    :-)

    Vic
  • Alejandra
    This is just another plot from WB to stir up free propaganda for the HP films. They know very well that this is the most-anticipated franchise EVER and that millions of fans themselves would be willing to contribute their own money to see their beloved creation come to life.
    Chill out people. WB knows EXACTLY what it is doing.
  • @Scully

    What can I say? It was a very slow news day. 8-)

    Vic
  • T.
    Golden Compass was weak, boring, and not worthy of a sequel. I'm quite sure the lukewarm response it got in this country would be twice as bad for a sequel. Narnia will find a home, since it has a large following and both movies made alot of money. This time around, it just happened to go against Iron Man and got crushed. Disney had no idea Iran Man was going to blow up like that. Another Christmas launch for it would do better than going against comic book blockbusters! And Harry Potter has been with us so long, it begs for completion. Its support isn't so suspect that it requires the hype from new material to bring in fans.
  • Callum Wood
    I should've known! This happens with all good films/sequels, the major film companies and directors pull out on sequels even if the film is a success; they're worried the film's sequel won't be as good, or the sequel might not do as well in the box office.

    This was the case in Jaws - the sequels didn't do as well as the first film. So I can understand the film directors and companies that don't want to make sequels.
  • 790
    Golden Compass, Narnia,, Harry Potter...

    Garbage.



    Happy New Year!
  • Why don't they trade this franchise with Fox for the rights to Watchmen? :)
  • Scully
    I'm suprised you even bothered to tag this as 'semi-news'.Of course WB are going to drop the only two movies that are guarenteed to make them a decent profit in the coming years.There's more chance of Sarah Palin becoming a communist.
  • Warner
    Well, If they were talking about cancelling New Moon, that would make sense seeing as meyer killed her world by decided pornographic smut was what was appropriate to end a series she pushed to market to 9-14 year old girls...

    Harry Potter however can overcome economic problems and writers strikes because it is a brand that has true popularity accross the board, instead of narnia, which had a much smaller, much more narrow fan base, even though it is 6-7 times older then harry potter was... as for twilight, it has the narrowest fan base of the three franchises, and anything that stops meyers from hording more greedfeed is fine by me.
  • Sabin
    I really hate it when i hear americans say that just because a movie fails at the box office in the u.s. it is a complete failure and therefore sequels are out of the question. I find that this is a very arrogant attitude.

    Take Golden Compass for example. The movie cost 180 million, made 70 million domestic but made 302 million in foreign countries. That's a total of 372 million which means it made about $200 million profit. If that's not enough of a sign for a sequel i don't know what does. And i actually found myself enjoying Golden Compass more than any of the Narnia films.
  • Jess H.
    I agree with Charles I think they are just looking for more hype for the other movies. Besides if WB didnt do the last two films I think there would be riots in the streets :) lol jk
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