TROLL: THE RISE OF HARRY POTTER JR Trying to Capitalize on Pottermania
I've seen Troll 2 (and the documentary about it, Best Worst Movie), but I never bothered checking out the first film (which featured Julia Louis-Dreyfus!) because the sequel apparently doesn't have anything to do with the original. Also, I heard it was terrible — but not as terrible as Troll 2, which, frankly, is the only reason to ever watch Troll 2. Anyway, I just received a press release stating that a new 3D animated feature is on the way called Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter Jr, and that it's starring Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette. Wait, what the heck does Troll have to do with Harry Potter?
It turns out in the original Troll — which was released in 1986 — the main kid character was named Harry Potter Jr, obviously pre-dating J.K. Rowling's wildly successful book series and Warner Bros. mega-popular blockbuster film franchise. But SC Films International is going to try to release a new movie (and eventually sequels and an animated television series to accompany it) in one of the most blatant efforts to capitalize on the popularity of another project I've ever seen.
The new animated feature will revisit the world of the wizardry originally created in the 1986 TROLL movie in which a wicked, magical troll wizard envisages taking over the world. Only Harry Potter, Jr., with the help of a magical witch, can save the planet from the clutches of the troll wizard and his evil force.
John Carl Buechler, who directed the original Troll, is back to co-produce this movie, and they're even in discussions with a theme park in China to create a Troll-themed venue. This whole thing is absurd, and I find it really hard to believe that Arquette would sign on for a project like this. This is essentially a different take on the Asylum movies that have titles like Transmorphers to confuse people into renting or buying their product because they've mistaken it for Transformers. It seems appropriate that this movie is called Troll since the project seems to be designed solely to troll the people at Warner Bros. Everyone involved with this should be ashamed of themselves.