David Zaslav is Willing to Work With J.K. Rowling on New ‘Harry Potter’ Content

During the company’s Q3 earnings call on Thursday, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav alluded to the possibility of doing “something” with contentious “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling on a future Wizarding World game.

The comprehensive statement discussed the value of popular franchises like “Lord of the Rings,” “Game of Thrones,” and “Sex and the City,” as well as D.C.’s “Superman,” “Batman,” and “Aquaman” movies. The WBD CEO expressed interest in “whether we can do something with J.K. on ‘Harry Potter’ going forward” during this response.

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In answer to a query from a media analyst on how content will be “different” under Warner Bros. Discovery from the AT&T-run WarnerMedia era and previously, Zaslav remarked, “We’re going to have a real focus on franchises.” “It’s been 13 years since we last saw a ‘Superman’ movie. We haven’t produced a “Harry Potter” film for fifteen years. Over the past 25 years, a large portion of Warner Bros.

Motion Pictures’ earnings have come from the “Harry Potter” and “D.C.” films. Focusing on the franchise is, therefore, one of our key advantages. “House of the Dragon,” “Game of Thrones,” “Sex and the City,” and “Lord of the Rings” are examples of this, and we still retain the right to make “Lord of the Rings” films. What movies have brands that are well-known and adored throughout the world?

“Outside the United States, most generally, Europe, Latin America, and Asia have 40% of the theatres that we have here in the U.S., and there is local content,” Zaslav stated. Because you get a slot, franchise movies earn two to three times as much abroad as they do domestically.

We also put a lot of emphasis on the blockbuster movies that are well-liked, popular, and that people will leave dinner early to see. Batman, Superman, Aquaman, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter (if we can continue working with J.K. on it), what about Game of Thrones? What are we doing with many of our large franchises? Our attention is on franchisees.

In June 2020, Rowling made a series of statements on Twitter in which she said that addressing gender identity undermines the existence of biological sex. The author stated, “If sex isn’t real, there is no same-sex attraction.” “The lived experience of women worldwide is obliterated if sex isn’t genuine.” The author kept insisting on the same stance in the years that followed.

The First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon, and Rowling engaged in an online battle earlier this year over the Gender Recognition Reform Bill, which aims to make it easier for transgender people to legally change their gender by getting a gender recognition certificate. The document enables trans people to obtain a new birth certificate reflecting their true gender.

In public, many “Harry Potter” actors have disagreed with Rowling. By tweeting, “I want my trans fans to know that so many other people around the world and I see you, respect you and love you for who you are,” Emma Watson addressed the author’s initial anti-trans statements.

Transgender women are women, which Daniel Radcliffe proclaimed in an open published letter. In a recent statement, Radcliffe stressed the significance of coming out against Rowling in 2020. A studio source claims that there are currently no ongoing negotiations with Rowling about creating a new “Harry Potter” film.

Nothing from “the Wizarding World,” which includes both the “Harry Potter” and “Fantastic Beasts” I.P.s, is currently in production at Warner Bros. The third “Fantastic Beasts” movie, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” from Warner Bros., was the most recent work based on Rowling’s I.P. to be made public.

A “Harry Potter” reunion special called “Return to Hogwarts,” which debuted on HBO Max last December came before that. Since the original “Harry Potter” franchise concluded with “Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part 2” in 2011, Warner Bros. has not released another “Harry Potter” movie.

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