Mere hours after the news of Emma Watson’s possible premature departure from the Harry Potter franchise, Warner Brothers has already gone into spin control. The studio has issued numerous statements on the subject which all amount to the same thing. Warner Brothers is confident that Emma will be back for films six and seven.

Unfortunately, from the other reports we’ve been getting over the past few months, Emma Watson sounds a great deal less confident.

The truth is that WB’s press quotes don’t really mean a lot. I’m sure if you ask Sony, they’re confident that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire will be back for Spider-Man 4, even though both have been pretty clear that they’re done. WB’s comments don’t change anything. Despite a few overly zealous headlines claiming Emma has quit, that’s never been the case. The story here is simply that she’s been pretty adamant about not wanting to do it. They’re still negotiating, but the rumor that Emma Watson has rejected contract offers remains unchallenged by anything the WB has to say.

Will she be back? We don’t know. The studio has to put forward a confident image. They’re going to tell you she’s in right up until the moment when they cast a replacement actress. There’s a lot of work left to do if Emma is going to be there for the last two Harry Potters.