J.K. Rowling's HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD Play Being Split Into Two Parts
If you want to point a finger at the reason why practically every young adult film franchise splits its final entry into two parts — often when the clearly don't deserve an extra film to tell their stories — look no further than Warner Bros.' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The studio realized they didn't have enough major moneymaking franchises as the conclusion to the Harry Potter saga approached, so they made the (at the time) shrewd move to split its final entry into two movies, hiding behind the excuse that it wouldn't make the filmmakers feel as if he had to cram too much in and excise some story threads. Now pretty much every trilogy is being split into four movies just to make some extra cash (cough Hunger Games cough). It's unfortunately become common practice in Hollywood.
Well, if history repeats itself, it may become common practice on the stage as well. J.K. Rowling is working on a stage production called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child that debuts in London next year, and the author has taken to Twitter to announce that the new play will be split into two parts:
On the official Pottermore website, the play's director, John Tiffany, offered this explanation as to why it's being split:
"I’ve never worked on anything quite like this before. Usually in theatre you’re adapting existing material or creating an entirely new play. With the Cursed Child we have been given the unique opportunity to explore some of the most cherished books and beloved characters ever written, yet work with J.K. Rowling to tell a story from that world that no one yet knows – it’s exhilarating.
"It shares a scale and ambition with all the Harry Potter stories so in order to do this justice we have decided to present the play in two parts."
Producer Sonia Friedman told The Daily Mail (via /Film) that the parts "can be seen on consecutive days in the same week or in some instances on the same day," and the report indicates that though schedules are still being worked out, "parts one and two will be performed on consecutive weekdays, while at weekends, audiences will be able to watch both parts in one day."
Rumor has it the story — which is not a musical, but will have music in it — takes place in Harry's pre-Hogwarts days, but Rowling has repeatedly stated that it's not a prequel, so we'll have to wait and see exactly how that works out. Are you going to head to London's West End next summer to see the debut of this now-two-part show?