J.K. Rowling Crushes Your Dreams of a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Movie Trilogy

Curses!

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling took to Twitter Friday to deny rumors that a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie trilogy was in the works. She had co-written the play by the same name, set 19 years after the events in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final installment in the hit book and film series. The production opened in London in 2016. The project's script was published as well.

"I know a lot of people are looking for reasons to be cheerful today, but there is NO TRUTH to the rumour about a #CursedChild movie trilogy!" she wrote.

The Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play depicts Harry Potter as a father of three and an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic. As he is haunted by memories of his past, his youngest son Albus struggles with the weight of his family's legacy. None of the Harry Potter film stars appeared in the production.

Last week, theme park journalist and historian Jim Hill signaled on the Unofficial Universal Orlando Podcast that a "trilogy of movies that will be based on Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" was in the works.

He also said Warner Bros. had had "conversations" with original stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint "'cause they want this to be, for lack of a better term, Harry Potter: The Force Awakens," per Screen Rant.

Hill later responded to Rowling's denial via Twitter, saying that while he has "great respect" for her and would not "dispute" what she posted, he was quoting info from a source "on the Warner Bros. side of the fence."

"Given what my source here has told me in the past...I'm very confident that what he told me about a Cursed Child film trilogy being talked about at Warners as something that will go into production after the five-part Fantastic Beasts film series wraps," he said.

Warner Bros. released Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, the first movie in a five-part spinoff series, last year. It made more than $802 million worldwide. The eight-part Harry Potter series made more than $7.72 million.

Rumors about the making of just one Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie began last year. Rowling denied the reports on Twitter in February when a fan asked about them.

In August, The New York Daily News quoted Hollywood sources as saying Warner Bros. was working on obtaining the rights to bring the new sequel story to the big screen as soon as 2010. The studio later said in a statement, "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a stage play, with no plans for there to be a film."

In December 2016, Warner Bros. Entertainment filed to trademark the title Harry Potter and the Cursed Child for merchandising purposes.

As for the idea of other Harry Potter sequels, Rowling told Reuters last July that Harry Potter and the Cursed Child would not herald a new phase of stories.

"Harry is done now," she said.

Harry Potter Stars Turned Out At The Red Carpet Opening Of Studio Tour

Stars and hardcore fans of the "Harry Potter" movies turned up Saturday at the red carpet launch of a studio tour featuring the sets where the boy wizard's adventures were filmed. Rupert Grint, who played Potter's friend Ron Weasley, and Tom Felton, who played bully Draco Malfoy, were among the actors at Warner Bros.' Leavesden studios in Watford, northwest of London, for the grand opening.

Harry Potter fans and press descended on Leavesden, near Watford, Hertfordshire on Saturday for the grand opening of The Warner Brothers Studio Tour - The Making Of Harry Potter.

Potter stars Tom Felton, Rupert Grint and Bonnie Wright attended the red-carpet launch of the studio tours, which gives followers of the popular film series (and the J.K. Rowling books that inspired it) an up-close view of some of the costumes, props, scenery, special effects and animatronics that have fired their imaginations.

Features of the three-hour tour include such memorable sets as Dumbledore's office, Diagon Alley, the Ministry of Magic, the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall of Hogwarts School.

Harry Potter stars turned out today at the red carpet opening of a studio tour which gives fans a spell-binding glimpse behind the scenes of the blockbuster film series.

Rupert Grint, Tom Felton and Bonnie Wright were among the actors at the grand opening of the Warner Brothers Studio Tour - The Making of Harry Potter.

Hundreds of screaming Potter fans lined up outside the studios in Leavesden, near Watford, Hertfordshire, where all eight of the multimillion pound-grossing films inspired by JK Rowling's magical stories were shot.
Local boy Grint - Ron Weasley in the Potter films - said: 'This is the most glamorous I have ever seen Watford. It's exciting for everyone to see.

'There are so many memories from in there and to share them with everyone is great. There are so many highlights but the model of the castle is out of this world.'

"There are so many memories from in there and to share them with everyone is great," Grint told The Press Association. " There are so many highlights but the model of the castle is out of this world."

All eight of the movies based on J. K. Rowling's books were shot at Leavesden, which is hoping to keep the magic going with "The Making of Harry Potter" studio tour round the film sets.

Located in 14,000 square metres of hangar space adjoining the studios, the walking tour takes visitors through Hogwarts school and the Diagon Alley high street, offering a glimpse of how the adventures were created on the big screen.

"Every brick of this building is embedded with huge memory. It's really special that we can share this with everyone," Grint told AFP.

Felton added: "This place has always been a home to us and now that Warner Brothers have given it a kind of solid foundation on a permanent residence. I'm excited to be coming. I could become a weekly visitor, at this rate."

Warner Bros. hopes to entice 5,000 people through the door each day, with tickets costing £83 ($130, 100 euros) for a family of four, presenting it as a unique, behind-the-scenes look at one of the world's most popular characters.

Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron, who took charge of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" (2004), the third instalment, said working on the movie had been an "amazing experience".

"As a life experience it was fantastic. All of this that you see and hear, and all the fans and stuff, that energy was present all the time on the set," he said.

"Whenever you do a film with a bunch of children, every body behaves differently, in the set, there's a completely different energy in the set. So that's my biggest memory, my fondest memory."

For the first time, the tour allows Muggles -- non-wizards -- the chance to walk down Diagon Alley, the bustling street where Harry and his fellow students go to buy their first magic wands.

Fans can experience the imposing dining hall at Hogwarts. From the soot-blackened chimney, the stone animals on the walls and the benches polished with use, everything is as it was on screen.

In the classroom where potions are taught, hundreds of bottles and flasks crammed onto dusty shelves line the walls, filled with mysterious substances -- in reality, baked animal bones from a local butchers, and dried herbs.

The tour also gives an insight into the special effects used.Tickets for every weekend day for the next three months have already sold out.