Hollywood is returning to the 2000s with tv show adaptations of popular young adult books like Harry Potter and Twilight. The first Harry Potter film premiered in 2001, launching Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson into the spotlight, and set them on a magical journey in Hogwarts for the next ten years, with the final film premiering in 2011. The success of JK Rowling's book movie adaptation launched other young adult series to do the same. In 2008, Twilight followed suit, then came The Hunger Games, followed by the Divergent franchise. Eventually, the trend died out.
However, like fashion, all things come back in style, and Hollywood is amidst a young adult novel adaptation renaissance. On April 12, Warner Brothers announced a Harry Potter television series is in the works with HBO. On April 19, it was reported Twilight would also be getting a TV series. Both franchises are based on the supernatural and sparked a societal obsession with wizards and vampires. The TV shows could potentially make the world obsessed with the supernatural again, but they better do a good job bringing the novels back to the screen.
Harry Potter & Twilight TV Remakes Signal A New Hollywood Trend
What's old is new again in Hollywood. This is a common concept with the number of movie reboots Hollywood has spun out throughout the decades. However, now Hollywood is riding the waves of streaming popularity. Social media platforms, especially Twitter and TikTok, have allowed people to reminisce about their favorite movies from childhood, and clips from Harry Potter and Twilight regularly circulate on social media. Hollywood picked up on this, and with the franchises at the front of everyone's minds, they decided to capitalize off it.
While most fans are content with the originals and feel connected to those specific actors, the new adaptations are still exciting fans. This could cause a resurgence of young adult novel adaptations. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is set to premiere later this year, and if it performs well, it will pique public interest in the series again, meaning the franchise could be the next to see itself adapted into a television show.
Daisy Jones & The Six also saw massive success this year with its Amazon Prime series, and while the book is a different genre, it proved people are interested in seeing their favorite books turned into television series. Hollywood clearly decided to run with that.
Turning Young Adult Movies Into TV Shows Is Risky
While it may sound exciting and the perfect way for Hollywood to profit off an old idea, there is a lot at risk in turning these films into shows. Those who grew up watching the Harry Potter and Twilight films grew to love the actors portraying their favorite characters. It's hard to imagine anyone else besides Radcliffe and Robert Pattinson recasting the roles of Harry Potter or Edward Cullen. New actors will undoubtedly take some getting used to. The best way to go into the new shows is with an open mind, but fans will likely be subconsciously comparing the films and the series whether they want to or not.
There will be changes, good or bad, and fans will quickly pick up on them and share their opinions on social media. When something in pop culture is so beloved, most fans hope Hollywood will just leave it alone instead of poking at it and potentially making it worse. If the series doesn't perform well, the companies have wasted a ton of money and tainted fans' experience with the franchises. Luckily, they can always go back and watch the original films so long as the series didn't put that bad of a taste in their mouths.
Fixing Bad Young Adult Adaptations Is Better For Hollywood
There are many aspects of Harry Potter, Twilight, and other young adult films that Hollywood can fix with the new tv adaptation trend. While Twilight was beloved at the time, many fans have found some scenes comical when going back to watch the franchise. It's also gotten its fair share of backlash from critics who didn't take the films seriously. However, Hollywood has the ability to improve many aspects. For starters, Harry Potter and Twilight both severely lack diversity. Including a diverse group of actors for the main cast could greatly improve the films. The adaptations could also fix some of the cheesy moments, especially in Twilight.
A big issue with film adaptations is the changes that have to be made. Even though both franchises had several movies, they all focused on one book. The TV series allows several episodes per season to tell the story of each book, meaning fewer things have to be eliminated, and the show can stay more faithful to the book than the movie did. The series also has the advantage of technology that wasn't available during the 2000s meaning some cringy special effects scenes can be improved in the series.
The trend also allows Hollywood to revisit series that didn't succeed as much as Harry Potter and Twilight, like Divergent. For example, Disney + has taken on the Percy Jackson series, set to premiere in 2024, allowing it to hopefully get more attention than the original films did. While there was some backlash over the casting, others felt the casting choices were fair and were more accurate to the books than the original films were.
Can Hollywood's New Trend Work In The End?
The trend can go either way. It could be a success that has fans excited to revisit the franchises that brought them so much joy when they were younger, or it could be a massive failure that has everyone wishing Hollywood would have left well enough alone. However, Netflix has seen enormous success with its Addams Family spinoff series, Wednesday, which has taken a lot of inspiration from Harry Potter, meaning the new series does have the potential to perform well.
It's also been long enough since the original Twilight and Harry Potter films for fans to be open-minded about a new generation of actors stepping into the roles. Hopefully, the shows will be a success, and if they are, fans can expect many more of their favorite young adult novels to hit streaming platforms in upcoming years.