“We haven’t done anything”: WB CEO Claims Studio Failed to Make Harry Potter Profitable After Trying to Milk the Fantastic Beasts Franchise Into Oblivion
Hollywood’s Wizard World adventure, Fantastic Beasts, which is set in the same magical world as Harry Potter, follows the adventures of magizoologist Newt Scamander. Serving as a spinoff prequel to the iconic Harry Potter franchise, The Fantastic Beast wasn’t as successful as Harry Potter, which captivated the audience with its exceptional storytelling and character development.
Fantastic Beasts has carved its own niche. While it couldn’t reach the pinnacle of box office success, it managed to garner a dedicated fanbase. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav discusses the future of Harry Potter in light of Fantastic Beasts’ failure, believing it will help propel the company to success.
David Zaslav sees the future of Harry Potter amid Fantastic Beasts’ disaster
After experiencing the a defeat from Fantastic Beasts, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav discussed the future of Harry Potter. With only eight movies, the J.K. Rowling masterpiece has brought in more than $7 billion for Warner Bros. Harry Potter, with both its literature and film, has had a significant impact, capturing a worldwide audience and gaining massive followers.
As a result, the spin-off story of Newt Scamander was found to be less impactful and engaging in comparison. The Fantastic Beasts which contained only 3 movies, couldn’t even manage to collect half the box office of Harry Potter as well.
While speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communications and Technology Conference, Zaslav explained that ending the Harry Porter franchise was a mistake. The Wrap reports, Zaslav still considers that intellectual property of the franchise is still active and that could help the studio regain its success. Warner Brothers still sees a future in Hogwarts School magicians who can surmount the flaws imprinted by Newt Scamander. Therefore, Zaslav believes the upcoming HBO adaptation of Harry Potter is a smart move.
We haven’t done anything with ‘Lord of the Rings. We think there’s a lot of shareholder value in attaching a 10-year DC — a real plan around DC, bringing ‘Harry Potter’ back to HBO for 10 consecutive years, doing multiple movies of ‘Lord of the Rings’… When you put those franchises in, it’s the best performing studio in the world. We need to deploy our best capital, and we need to do it with the best creative people in the world.
He also mentioned that the studio also plans to bring a comprehensive strategy to the DC Universe and produce additional Lord of the Rings movies without diminishing the quality of the content. Therefore, Zaslav’s wise move can benefit the company’s future success.
Harry Potter TV series tells Harry’s life at Hogwarts
The Fantastic Beasts franchise, meanwhile, proved to be fairly lifeless and brought in a comparatively low income of $1.865 billion across its three movies while garnering mostly mixed reviews. The first movie was financially successful, earning over $800 million against a $175 million production cost.
Its sequel, The Crimes of Grindelwald, was produced with a higher budget of $200 million but earned less. The latest installment, The Secrets of Dumbledore, earned only $400 million with the same budget, sparking doubts about the future of the film despite its constant financial decline.
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At the same time, HBO MAX’s Harry Potter TV series which was announced on April 12, 2023, evokes the confidence of Warner Bros. The upcoming TV show is scheduled to be set in the familiar background of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which might focus on the life of Harry Potter during his time at Hogwarts. Since the cast and other details are unknown, the story will serve as a fresh perspective on Harry Potter based on the beloved story over an extended period.
Source: The Wrap
