Harry Potter is done being Harry Potter, at least according to a recent interview with star Daniel Radcliffe.
The news, which is unwelcome for the millions of fans of the famous franchise around the world, was shared in a press interview for the upcoming The Lost City, starring Radcliffe, Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum with The New York Times.
Radcliffe was asked, in light of a recent Chris Columbus Variety interview expressing interest in directing Radcliffe as Potter in a film version of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, whether he’d be game to reprise the role. While Radcliffe is known as a fairly easy-going personality, he didn’t mince words in his response.
“This isn’t the answer that anybody’s going to want, but I think I was so able to go back and enjoy it because it’s not a part of my day-to-day life anymore. I’m getting to a point where I feel like I made it out of Potter OK and I’m really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life. I’m never going to say never, but the Star Wars guys had like 30, 40 years before they went back. For me, it’s only been 10. It’s not something I’m really interested in doing right now.”
Columbus also said he would love to see Emma Watson and Rupert Grint return to their roles as well. He told The Hollywood Reporter it could be something really special; the same type of special feeling when Star Wars came back.
“If you’re a film nerd or cinephile, it’s kind of like what J.J. Abrams did with Star Wars. There’s no question if you’re a Star Wars fan, you were moved just seeing them on screen, seeing Harrison Ford as Han Solo again.”
As for his role in The Lost City, where Radcliffe plays an eccentric millionaire who kidnaps Bullock’s character Loretta Sage, he said he drew inspiration from another famous jungle treasure hunting movie – Romancing the Stone.
Romancing the Stone is obviously a big point of comparison, and also the first Mummy movie with Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz. That’s one of my favorite films, and this does feel like a classic adventure film where you’re rooting for the characters and rooting for the relationship, but also it’s that slightly heightened world where even in deadly, perilous moments, people are still being quippy and funny with each other and it’s a delight.
The Lost City makes its way into theaters on March 19.