Warner Brothers and author J.K. Rowling have announced that they are working together on a spin-off of the Harry Potter franchise.
Sadly, they passed on my pitch for a movie franchise based on the solo adventures of Voldemort's nose who becomes a private investigator, called I Sniff A Mystery.
It will not involve Harry, Hermione, or Rupert Grint, who I know was an actor, but his name was more fitting for a character.
Instead it will be set in New York during the 1920s, and will no doubt somehow involve jazz, speakeasies, gangsters, goblins, ghosts, ghouls, and other strangeness as it follows wizard Newt Scamander as he compiles his future Hogwarts textbook Fantastic Beasts & Where To Find Them.
Personally, I have no problem with this. It's not like they're trying to drag Radcliffe and Company into doing another sequel. They're working with JK Rowling to make new stories and expanding on the fictional universe she created. Nobody has a problem with new people previously totally unconnected with the originals working on new Star Wars movies. Actually, that's a bad example with the prequel trilogy flashing back into my mind like a painful repressed memory.
I think the fact that she has about half of all the money in the universe and has successfully branched into other projects and genres means that no studio, poverty, or an egotistical desire for artistic respectability could force her to do something she doesn't really want to do.
I feel that while she may be done with Harry Potter specifically she might not feel that she's done with the world she created for it.
That's what I think, what do you think?
The adventures of a nose separated from the face of a prominent person? Been done (by Gogol).
ReplyDeleteThe mix of 1920s and witchcraft sounds pretty intersting- unusual at least. With her pedigree and participation it ought to work just fine if done well.
btw, the Star Wars prequels are unfairly maligned in my view. Sure, there were some of the same silly (and steroetypical) aliens as in the first series, but the arc of the decline of the Republic, talky and boring to some, was actually a relevant and poignant analogy to the fall of Rome and to our own times. Generally underappreciated- I suppose people wanted and expected only space effects, fast ships, and funny aliens, not a serious storyline of import (even though it was executed in a comic-book fashion). At least Julius Caesar was not a Sith Lord (to our knowledge). The last one, the final descent of Anakin to Darth and final scenes at the volcano, was great.
Maurice: Deriving joy from something the majority of other people (or is it just fans) dislike is one of the keys to increased happiness, IMO.
ReplyDeleteAs for Rowling, you can see some British hoplophobia in the Potter series of books. I also wonder, since the North American continent was so totally missing from Potterworld if she doesn't have some axe to grind.
Unfortunately, based on past experience, I expect her version of America in the '20s will involve lots of extreme over the top gunplay with a bit of sneering about it thrown in for good measure. Hopefully not.
K - Thanks for the reply. I had to look up hoplophobia- not a great trait for a show set in the roaring 20s. maybe they can team up with baz luhrman's "great gatsby" design team for that over-the-top feeling. we shall see.
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