Leaning Into More Harry Potter Content Could Be A Disaster For Warner Bros.

gamerant.com:

In this modern age of IP-driven franchise filmmaking, it has gradually become impossible to believe that any once-marketable name could become too toxic to leave alive. As the years march on, the box office returns trend downwards, and the public perception becomes more enraged, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and friends are testing that theory.

Warner Bros. Entertainment has two gigantic world-conquering empires; Harry Potter and the DC Extended Universe. The latter had a rough few years, back when Zack Snyder ran the show, but its recovery has been gradual and powerful. With the larger DCEU in a slightly precarious position, it's worth wondering whether the Wizarding World and the big name attached to it are an enchanting blessing or a terrible curse.

Emma Watson And J.K. Rowling At The Centre Of Another Heated Debate Among Harry Potter Fans

In 1999, Warner Bros. purchased the film rights to the 1997 novel Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and its first three sequels for a reported $1.65 million. For the first few years of the new millennium, each Harry Potter film landed firmly among the top 3 best-selling films of their release year. It is fundamentally impossible to overstate the financial success of the Harry Potter film franchise and the resulting merchandise. For a decade, Warner Bros. had a monster hit in their holster with limited overhead and no threat of disappointment. To put it in perspective, the Harry Potter film franchise is the fourth most financially successful IP in cinematic history, before counting the merchandise profits. The general toys, games, apparel, and so on have raked in north of $15 billion, and they have not slowed down to any significant degree. This is the kind of IP a studio