A Premature End For The Harry Potter Movies?
Dec 30, 2008 by Ross MillerAfter the recent news that Disney has pulled out of producing the third Narnia film, we have the surprising word going around that the last …
After 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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This would be a rather stupid move for WB. The two Chronicles films worked well as self contained films, with both of them, you didn’t really think that the story continued after the end of the movie. With Compass it was blatantly obvious that there was going to be a sequel at the end, but the movie was crap and raked in little cash so I can understand that as well.
But Potter… they’re releasing Half Blood Prince, a book that ends with a huge cliffhanger, one that all the other films were essentially playing in to (there’s no real spoiler here when I say that at the end of HBP Harry decides that he’s going to devote himself to killing Voldemort… that’s effectively what the whole of the last book is about). If WB didn’t do the last two films, that means that they have a series of movies that, right at the end, goes no where and has no resolution.
As for success… people will flock to the cinema for these films. The best thing they can do is do half the book in the first film, have it end on a giant cliff hanger and then, by the time people have either seen it at the cinema, or bought the DVD, people will be waiting to see the final installment.
Here’s hoping this is all just a rumour.
ah, who cares! I got bored with them anyway.
I think it’s just a strawman to see if we get all up in arms about it to draw as big a crowd to theatres for the next installment. Remember, it’s going up against late spring/summer blockbusters the way it never had to because it was always released at Thanksgiving. But this year, Equus (sp?) changed that.
No, Harry is NOT related, although, I do have an uncle Harry, and he’s married to an aunt who is a Potter.
As for WB dropping out on the final installment of the HP films, I don’t think it would be a wise move either. I believe it’s too much to cover in one installment also.
HBP has a lot of material to cover and lack of an explanation afterwards would leave WB missing a lot of revenue, what with the fan-base and all.
No it would not be a wise move on WB to stop Harry Potter now. I as a fan look forward to how the next three films play out on the big screen. On another note what will happen to the big them park that is set to open in late 09 or early 2010. I am playing a family vacation around the opening of the Harry Potter Park. My grand children have yet to visit Disney World and all the other parks in Orlando.
Just like another poster said: they are saying this on purpose to start up hype for the rest of the movies in the series. It’s the same as when we heard “oh, Mcguire may not come back for the next spider man movie,” and “oh, the director for ‘such and such’ doesn’t know if they want to direct ANOTHER hit in a movie series.” Those are just ploys by people to get more money.
Follow the money, people, especially in our good ol’ USA. That’s where all the decisions are made, and they always make them, in the interest to make even more money. They care about nothing else.
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
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.
@Sabin
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.
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.
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.
Why don’t they trade this franchise with Fox for the rights to Watchmen?
Golden Compass, Narnia,, Harry Potter…
Garbage.
Happy New Year!
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.
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.
@Scully
What can I say? It was a very slow news day.
Vic
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.
http://www.slashfilm.com/2008/12/30/rumor-killer-harry-potter-series-will-not-end-early/
Not really debunked, but they bring up good reasons for why this rumour is highly unlikely.
@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
Yeah, I figured I’d just throw in a bit more info.
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.
If it means screwing over the fans, WB will do it. They’re evil.
@ 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…
Re: the idea to do a reboot…
For anyone who’s read the books, what would you think to a HP TV show, each season covers the books (so we’d get all the detail from the books) and there would of course be seven seasons? If they were short seasons (if it were produced in the UK, the seasons probably wouldn’t be longer than about 6-9 episodes) it could work. Just an idea…
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…
Everytime I use the word poppycock my comments get trapped by Spammer Man
I hate it when my comments don’t get posted…Two trapped by the Spammer-Man
@ 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
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..