I caught a few articles on this over the last few days, but it was one of those 'recced for you' on my phone, so I don't have the links handy. Here's one, but it's unsourced (Fandomwire).

A brief summation

1 - JKR wanted to do Cursed Child, and retains 'Creative Control' of HP
2 - Radcliffe and Watson don't want to come back because of JKR
3 - WB doesn't want JKR involved either
Solution!
4 - WB attempt to pay off JKR
5 - JKR puts down a stupid offer (no details), which is rejected
6 - WB has choice of either making (more) money from HP or not
7 - WB shrugs and goes with JKR.
8 - Without older actors, can't do continuation, so it's a reboot or another era.



Also, I'm not sure how many people outside of either strong fans, and those in the LGBT+ community/spheres, would be aware of her comments?
I'm a long-time HP fan, but not really involved in the LGBT+ sphere at all, except through friends (it seems a larger than expected proportion of vtubers fall into that camp, who would've thought it). I was aware JKR had said some things, but I had no idea whether it was insensitive, hurtful, or hatespeech - she's an author of a series I've not read in a good few years, living in a different country, and is a billionaire... Why would I pay any attention to her?

I mean, for other authors, I'm aware Jim Butcher can be a bit skeevy about female characters; and that he divorced his wife to marry (I think) someone who cosplayed Molly and modded the forums, but that's only because I was on the actual Butcherboards for a while. Doing some checking now, he's apparently four books further along, and possibly another divorce? (I hated Ghost Story SO MUCH, I don't think I've read any since).
There's things about Wildbow and race, I think. Something about Skidmark, but that's all from SB mods, who are... SB mods.

I was surprised when half my twitter feed effectively became "If you play the wizard game then you hate me, and me existing".

However, my main reasons for thinking that the general public isn't consciously aware of JKR's comments is twofold:
1 - Neither of my parents were aware of anything regarding her, and I'm aware that they both watch and listen to the news.
2 - Of the two IRL streamers I know and talk with, neither knew about anything on JKR until the larger one (1k+ viewers, so significant) got DMed by a mod specifically warning him away from the game.

 

They can still do CC if they really want, just... cast other people? I mean, really. I understand that obviously bringing back the OG cast would come with a built-in core fanbase, but there's no rule that you have to have the same actors to do sequels. The theater production didn't, right?

 

Even with out the rift between the original cast and JR I doubt they would want to sign on to more of them same unless the pay check was stupidly large. They have all moved on, and considering non of them have chased big pay days since, I am inclined to think they have enough money.

 

That was an option? My Disappointment Is Immeasurable And My Day Is Ruined...

Watson I could take or leave since she turned into another boring starlet, but getting Daniel back would have been great.

I would love to see the series infused with his weird and manic energy, would have made for a fun show.

 

At the end of the day, we‘ve seen with Hogwarts Legacy how much influence the Twittersphere actually holds in the real world. That was one of the stronger campaigns I‘ve seen against any piece of media and the measurable impact was pretty much zero. And obviously, no one should give a quarter to the nutjobs threatening people over playing a video game.

Furthermore, it remains to be seen whether the anti-Rowling, and by extension anti-HP faction could escalate much more than they did with Hogwarts Legacy. Especially given the fact that in terms of mainstream media attention, a tv series would be much, much bigger by comparison. A good game is a good game, a good show is a good show, and both will find their audience if marketed properly.

 

Thaumologis
JKRs initial coments were at the top of most peoples news feed for some days after she made them. Actually I think it may have made the front page of The Times. As indeed they were intended to. Shes put a lot of energy into getting her message heard. Its not quite some weird drama underbelly you would need to be super online to be aware of.

Interested in is something else. Most people dont really care either way. As the Hogwarts Legacy sales attest.

 

Nah. It was well known in the Twitter-sphere and among terminally online types, but the vast majority of people never saw it at all. At most, they'd have seen a blurb in the paper that JKR said something naughty but couldn't be bothered to find anything out about it and moved on with their lives.

And yeah, like y'all have said, Legacy proves that there's a big appetite for HP stuff, and no amount of screeching on Twitter is gonna dent it.

I'm not sure I buy that whole thing Thaum laid out though, it seems too convenient. Feels much more likely that WB have been thinking about how to monetize the brand for a while, saw the Legacy sales figures, and finally decided that they couldn't let the fervor die down entirely without taking a bite. And since they had no other ideas, they settled on a remake as being the simplest and easiest to do, then pushed out a somewhat-early announcement before the IP left the public consciousness.

 

I definitely buy the "don't want to do continuation without the original actors" theory. It's unfortunate, and even if were cheaper to recast, the star draw is probably quite high.

Radcliffe's choice of what he does post-HP does support the "not chasing money" theory, whether or not JKR's involvement is the breaking point or not.

I'm surprised there's no "extended universe" for Harry Potter, FB movies aside. *That* I assume is JKR's creative control speaking.

 

Ew she wanted to adapt Cursed Child? I threw up a little in my mouth.

 

Depends where you live I suppose. It was certainly front page news on a fair few occaisions over here in the UK.

 

Anyone else think this show is going to be a disaster? Everything JKR as done since the epilogue to fantastic beasts has been. I would want her far away from the show as possible and let HBO talented writers and showrunners take care of it. Also the fact its HBO means it will probably really dark and bleak, possibly adult and won't capture the magic of the books and movies nevermind casting actors anywhere as good as them. All this seems like cash grab to me than done with genuine passion.

 

I suppose I am in the minority that just doesn't give a shit about other characters, at least to have them over the protagonists. To me, the show being people other than the trio would not be an improvement, it would just make me not care.

 

Potter Law #1

https://forums.darklordpotter.net/threads/potter-law.2321/

 

Not sure how many people feel this way but the original movies always felt underwhelming to me, like a watered-down rendition – a missed opportunity given the budget and (generally quite good) cast, it just never managed to do justice to the source material in the way that I had hoped. They left out key plot points, altered characterizations and lacked the depth of world-building and emotional resonance that the books have.

So I’m cautiously optimistic that a TV adaptation, with a different format and more time to delve into details, might be able to do the story more justice.

 

A lot of people often say this when TV show adaptations are announced and they're always disappointed. That's because they're not making a movie with the runtime of a show. They're making a show.

 

My #1 hope now that the disappointing premise has been confirmed: A musical episode.

 

The Felix Felicis ark would be perfect for this.

 

Not sure if official or a fan mock-up, but an interesting aesthetic regardless:

 

I'm not sure why Harry Potter needs a reboot. The books were great, the movies were fine, fan fiction is good. This screams like cash grab to me. Anycase they don't really have enough material to do seven season tv show. The movies didn't really miss much from leaving out stuff from the books. And cast from the movies are simply irreplaceable. Who do you even cast to have the impact the likes of Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris, Robbie Coltrane had?

 

I mean, this is going to be made by WBD. A company that has decided to keep entire films from releasing to get a tax-write. So I honestly expect it to be nothing more than a soulless cash grab. Maybe we'll be surprised, but I doubt it.