If one Harry Potter star is to be believed, a remake of the franchise feels like an inevitability.
After dominating the literary world, J.K. Rowling's wizarding universe has also become one of the biggest movie franchises of all time.
Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson headlined the first eight films (based on the books) before the series started anew with the Fantastic Beasts series of films. However, ever since Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson stepped off the set for the last time, there has been chatter about their return.
In recent months, Warner Bros. (WB) has started talking about the future of the wizarding world, with a TV show and potential ninth mainline film being the talk of the town.
But what about a full-on remake? Could WB ever be bold enough to take on such a venture?
A Harry Potter Remake is Inevitable
According to Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, it feels inevitable that the magical movies get the remake treatment.
Grint recently told GQ that he's "sure the films will get remade."
The Ron Weasley actor also mentioned he loves the idea of the franchise being "adapted into a TV show," noting that he thinks that works would "really work" in a television format.
In the same interview, Grint's Harry Potter co-star Tom Felton lamented that the actor has "almost forgotten the scale of the career that he’s had." Grint retorted to Felton's claims, saying, "most days I think about the films in some way:"
“Most days I think about the films in some way, the only one I’ve ever rewatched is Philosopher’s Stone (Sorcerer's Stone). And I enjoyed it. I felt detached enough, because it was so long ago.”
Grint opined that watching that first Potter film feels like "watching a home movie:"
“[It's] like watching a home movie. It was my childhood, after all. I didn’t go to school; I lost touch with a lot of old friends. I missed out on a lot of shared experiences.”
The 34-year-old said that he and his former co-stars are still figuring out how to navigate their careers after such a cultural phenomenon:
“We’re still trying to figure out what life looks like on the other side of this massive cultural thing.”
What Does the Future of Harry Potter Look Like?
While Grint is probably right in saying a Harry Potter remake feels like a sure thing sometime down the line, it feels almost sacrilege to think of any other actors portraying these characters.
Grint and his co-stars grew up in front of audiences' eyes, with the main trio having started when they were 10 to 12 years old. To a lot of fans, these characters and actors are one and the same.
Yes, this has cast a shadow for some of them to climb out from under as they navigate the acting world post-Potter. But in a lot of ways, it is this iconic nature of the first set of films that would make a remake a near-impossible task.
Right now, it seems like the wizarding world is going to move forward with a Cursed Child adaptation for the big screen and an HBO Max TV series that Warner Bros. has "a lot of interest and a lot of passion" in. This story was first realized as a theatrical play based on Rowling's story, and it was later released in text form.
Grint himself even mentioned in the past that "if the timing was right" we would return to the franchise.
So, while a remake may be inevitable, Grint and co. may take one more go-round at Hogwarts before that actually sees the light of day.
