MORE POTTER!: Harry Potter has been in books, movies, theme parks and the Web. TV should be the next step. (AP)
This past weekend, I spent a glorious, sun-filled day in Montreal — indoors. I was raptly savoring every second of the supposedly last-ever “Harry” movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”
Although the theater was filled with kids, not a sound, not a text, not a breath was heard. The magic is magic.
“Part 2” broke every box-office record possible, opening at half-a-billion bucks, which had swelled to 1 billion by Monday morning.
How can it then be true that there will be no more “Harry Potter” books or movies — or anything?
Harry’s been booked, filmed, audio booked, theme parked, Web sited and merchandised within an inch of himself. J.K. Rowling is even going to launch a massive interactive Web site, Pottermore.com, in October. And yet, oddly Rowling has avoided putting the series on TV like a Sectumsem pra curse.
But why, when TV is the logical next step? Does she fear brain rot in kids?
Sure, TV used to be thought of as the great imagination wrecker — but it’s just not true. Tremendous things came from and continue to come out of TV.
And don’t forget that Rowling also used to fear that if “Harry Potter” were made flesh — or, in this case, film — it would discourage kids from reading.
With 450 million “Harry Potter” books in print, we know that sure didn’t happen. Likewise, reading didn’t discourage kids from going to the movies. Logically, then, why would a TV series stop kids from reading and going to the movies?
Nothing stops Harry Potter fans. Have you been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando? Too much Potter is never enough Potter for lovers of all things Harry and Hogwarts.
Of course, it would be foolish to even try to recreate the original movie magic between Harry, Hermoine and Ron, (Daniel Radcliff, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint) on TV with new actors. Fans would cast a dark spell on them for even attempting it.
But what about a TV series set five years into the future, when Harry and Ginny’s offspring will be entering Hogwarts?
First born, James Sirius, enters Hogwarts in 2016. Second son, Albus Severus, will be 11 and Hogwarts-ready in 2017, while little Lily Luna, born in 2008, will be ready in 2019.
Rowling would even avoid having to make up future inventions — which are the bane of all TV shows set in the future. At Hogwarts, they have no need of halographic iPads — they use only good old-fashioned magic!
The very idea is enough to warm my little, black Slytherin heart.