Back in February, J.K. Rowling insisted that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child would remain a play, and not make a seemingly inevitable migration to the big screen. So what’s this about Warner Bros., producers of Harry Potter films past and Fantastic Beasts movies future, filing for a Cursed Child trademark in the UK?
Image: Pottermore
Blogger Brian Conroy posted the entire document, which covers just about every possible avenue that Cursed Child — set 19 years after the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, ends — could ever want to pursue, including (AHEM) “motion picture films featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation, and motion picture films for broadcast on television featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation”.
That said, the application has many, many categories, most of them involving merchandising opportunities: Computer games, slot machines, plastic cutlery, phone cases, imitation leather key fobs, stationary, party decorations, temporary tattoos, nappy bags, sleeping bags, oven mitts, Halloween costumes, belt buckles, board games, lollies and more. Basically, either Warner Bros. is planning on churning out a ton of Cursed Child doodads at some point, or it wants to make damn sure that nobody else can.
The play, which is still in preview performances at London’s Palace Theatre, is currently selling tickets through the end of May 2017. As for that maybe-movie? Perhaps Warner Bros. is planning to film a performance to screen in theatres or broadcast on TV or the internet, for the legions of Harry Potter fans worldwide who can’t make it to England. Or maybe, just maybe, there’s a full-on, CG-filled, Harry-and-his-son-make-magic-on-the-big-screen movie afoot, and Rowling will have to eat her tweet insisting that it isn’t.