Why A Cursed Child Movie Is Not Happening, Despite J.K. Rowling's Tease

Harry Potter trio Ron Hermione Harry Hermione crying into Ron shoulder Warner Bros.

That's it? That was the reaction of many Harry Potter fans after it looked like a major announcement might be coming from J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter author and Fantastic Beasts screenwriter hadn't tweeted since March, then returned out of nowhere on September 5 with a cool logo shared with #HarryPotter and #CursedChild hashtags. Intriguing! It got fans thinking she must be teasing a new project -- a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child movie, or maybe even another story in the canon. (Sorry, haters, but Cursed Child is considered canon.)

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However, any fans who caught this tweet from Pottermore -- J.K. Rowling's official Harry Potter site -- would see that the new Cursed Child tease was not about a movie. The account's "not a movie" tweet also referenced Rowling's own rumor rebuttal from January 2017 that there's no Cursed Child movie trilogy on the way:

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Pottermore's no movie tweet didn't make its way to everyone, and you know how the internet gets. A Cursed Child movie rumor still spread, along with ideas on what else J.K. Rowling could've returned to Twitter to tease.

And then Harry Potter fans suffered the deflated feeling of all Hufflepuff Quidditch followers when Pottermore updated with a tweet on ... the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child's play's new logo?

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So this was all just to promote Cursed Child's new design for the Broadway show? It looks like the promotion was also teasing Cursed Child taking over Times Square, since this retweet is the second post J.K. Rowling shared:

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That's it. The top logo and that Times Square retweet are the two new tweets from J.K. Rowling so far, and it does look -- at this point -- like her big return to Twitter was in connection to promoting the NYC play and its new logo. Several fans, who were expecting movie news or just something more than that, were disappointed.

• We were so hyped! We thought that something bigger than that was coming so we're all a bit disappointed with the announcement (especially those who live far from any city with the play on stage!)• Y'all hyped this up so hard for what? A new logo. Big whoop.• I'm confused, the announcement was only the rebranding? We're waiting something else?• Sooooooooooooo what was the announcement?? • They changed their font... • We expected so much, we were given so little :( I little sad with the announcement Pottermore said we'd received :(

Yeah, this is not the first time J.K. Rowling has disappointed fans, but we all keep coming back for more. Harry Potter has fans around the world, so the Broadway-based updates really weren't that exciting to people outside of New York City. The official Cursed Child Broadway production replied to many fans that other big news was on the way, then added this post to all:

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So even though Harry Potter fans are now tired of teases, it sounds like something is coming that might please more fans worldwide. Is the play expanding around the world, perhaps? Whatever the case, it's not a movie. Not yet, anyway.

That doesn't mean Warner Bros. won't make a Cursed Child movie someday. Right now, though, the Harry Potter film world is pretty busy with the Fantastic Beasts movies.

As you know, J.K. Rowling is writing the scripts for all five planned Fantastic Beasts movies. We've seen two films come out so far, and the third movie is just starting to prepare for filming, and Rowling still has to write the next two scripts.

The first two Fantastic Beasts films made a lot of money, but the second made significantly less than the first, and it was also criticized by both fans and critics. It seemed to disappoint in general. The third movie ended up being delayed, with production now meant to start this fall as opposed to the original plan of filming this summer. About six months ago, now former Warner Bros. exec Kevin Tsujihara said J.K. Rowling was re-working the third movie's script to make sure they got it right. Dan Fogler, who plays No-Maj Jacob Kowalski, said the third movie had to be delayed because it's "gigantic" and bigger than the first two movies combined. Here's more of what we know about Fantastic Beasts 3, including the release date.

Some fans are relieved to hear a Cursed Child movie is not really in the works right now, since the play has been quite controversial in terms of changing the canon. Not that J.K. Rowling is a stranger to retconning her own work. But as devoted Harry Potter fans, we will always be loyal to the headmistress who created this world.

Gina Carbone

Gina grew up in Massachusetts and California in her own version of The Parent Trap. She went to three different middle schools, four high schools, and three universities -- including half a year in Perth, Western Australia. She currently lives in a small town in Maine, the kind Stephen King regularly sets terrible things in, so this may be the last you hear from her.