As a franchise, Harry Potter has been extremely popular and profitable, grossing almost $10 billion at the box office across the 11 movies released so far. There have been eight mainline Harry Potter films and three movies in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, a prequel focused on the adventures of Newt Scamander and Albus Dumbledore to a lesser extent. The last movie set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was released earlier in 2022. With Harry Potter having a history of performing well (although maybe not lately) it is not beyond the realm of possibility that a new film in the franchise is currently being worked on in some stage of pre-production.
However, as the last film was released this year, there will not be a new Harry Potter movie arriving in 2022. It’s also worth noting that with the backlash stemming from the controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling. For those out of the loop, Rowling often tweets transphobic comments, leading many Harry Potter fans to abandon the franchise if not the creator. Add to that the fact that they recast Johnny Deep for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and that the same film starred Ezra Miller who has been in trouble with the law for the past few months, and you will find the Fantastic Beasts franchise barely managing to stay afloat.
If Warner Bros. were going to make another film in the franchise they do have some options, some that fans have been clamoring for since the last Harry Potter film was released. So, let’s go over the possible avenues they could take for a new Harry Potter film.
Fantastic Beasts 4
The Fantastic Beasts series was originally supposed to be five films, so two of those films have not been released. Of course, as mentioned previously, the Fantastic Beasts franchise has been tainted by controversy with Ezra Miller, J.K. Rowling, and Johnny Depp. As of writing, it is unclear whether the controversy has managed to tank the franchise, and if the next two planned entries will ever be produced.
But if they were to make a fourth film in the Fantastic Beasts franchise, what would that film be about? We left Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore with Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s blood pact destroyed meaning Dumbledore can finally deal with Grindelwald directly, leading to their battle hinted at in the Harry Potter books. As for Ezra Miller’s character Credence — who was revealed to be Dumbledore’s nephew — it seems like they were preparing to kill his character off, as his health slowly deteriorates during the course of the film.
So they could possibly do a Fantastic Beasts 4 without Ezra Miller and do so quite naturally. As for Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen has said that Depp could come back to the role, which would be a weird choice for a fourth film. Either way there seem to be ways to get around the controversies of the series, at least to the point where they can finish off their five film plan.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is an original play that was written by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany in which Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger had grown up and had children. The play was set after the events of the main Harry Potter series and followed one of Harry Potter’s children, Albus Severus Potter. The plot of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child revolves around Albus using the time turner to go back to when his father was still attending Hogwarts and as a result, altering history for a time. Part of the story is a fun ‘what if?’ style tale, altering some of the classic Harry Potter stories fans know and love, all with the backdrop of Voldemort’s possible return.
It would not be quite clear how the play would be adapted into a possible film, or films seeing as the play is in two parts. The cast of the original Harry Potter would probably not return for the film, and if they do not return as their older selves, then the film version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child might not be worth doing. Warner Bros. might be better off waiting to do an adaptation of the play when the cast is willing to reprise their roles.
The Marauders
A story about the Marauders is something that most Harry Potter fans have wanted since the end of the Harry Potter series. If you are not familiar with the Marauders, they are the group consisting of James Potter, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew. Any project based on the Marauders, whether it be a film series or a television series, would be a prequel to Harry Potter.
It could be set during their adventures in Hogwarts or even later during the First Wizarding War when Dumbledore assembled the Order of the Phoenix to assist him in taking down Voldemort and his forces. After their stories were so bleak in the main series we could finally see some happiness in the lives of James and Lily Potter when they were still newlyweds or Sirius Black with his leather jacket and motorcycle. This honestly seems like a sure bet to cash in on the Harry Potter name, but perhaps the ship has sailed for this prequel idea.
Harry Potter 9
This might be the least likely project on this list, but there is always the possibility that Warner Bros. offers the original cast of the film to return to an adventure set between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. J.K. Rowling might not have to be involved with this project either, as she could just give her blessing to a new story as she has done with the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy game. However, as with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, it is unlikely that Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, or Emma Watson would want to return to the franchise at this stage of their careers. It does not rule out appearances down the line though.
Those are just some of the possible projects that Warner Bros. could adapt into a film set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. As for if they will make any of these into movies, only time will tell. As for how much time, well that is a question for Warner Bros., all we can definitively tell you is that other than Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, no new Harry Potter films will be releasing in 2022.