Oprah sat down with JK Rowling, the creator and author of the Harry Potter empire and they chat about all sorts of topics like how it feels to be ludicrously wealthy and Rowling’s life after the Harry Potter books were done, and what’s next.
And thats when she dropped the hint that has Potter fans freaking out. Blastr quotes Rowling:
“I could definitely write an eighth, ninth, tenth,” the writer told Winfrey. “I’m not going to say I won’t. I don’t think I will … I feel I am done, but you never know.”
Now this is a far cry from her original “maybe ten years from now” approach to the Potter books she said in the spring, sparking fantatical speculation that Rowling is getting the itch again and we could see another Harry Potter book spring up at any moment.
For me personally, I love the Harry Potter stories but if she does write more, she should expand this world.
Write about Dragon handlers or Aurors (magical bounty hunters/police) and pick up the story somewhere other than the confines of Hogwarts with a new cast. Perhaps bring in some of the minor players after graduation and move forward.
This last pair of films will have the story mostly off school grounds which would leave a lot of room for her to branch out into a bigger world.
Do like the Star Wars novels, and license the world out with Rowling there for approval. She can continue to be rediculously rich and the fan base can have their stories.
Which will inevitably turn into movies… or a TV series. The possibilities are endless here.
Check out the whole interview in parts right here:
I never even finished the series.
But I remember in one of the last books I read it was revealed that Neville Longbottom had the same birthday as Harry and could have been the one prophecized as the chosen wizard to defeat Voldemort. Back then I thought Rowling should do an alternate series (parallel universe kind of thing) where Neville was the main character and had to battle Voldemort. And due to the butterfly effect this would change all the events. Different people would die, etc. But I don’t think fans would go for that.
I vote for Rowling to give license to the BBC (and/or HBO) to make their version of the Harry Potter books 10 years from now, or something like it. The WB movies were fun enough — it was a great spectacle — but I think they could be so very much more. A few BBC miniseries would be awesome. I’m not even sure if she could do this, but if she can, it needs to happen.
I’m also down for some more books. I really enjoyed how the books grew with the audience and I hope that would continue, whether the stories move forward, or whether JK decides to go back in time and explain what really went on in Dumbledore’s life, or the first time Voldemort came around. Finally, as a rabid fan, I give her complete license to ignore anything and everything she wrote in the epilogue to book 7… I know that’s what I do.
man listening to rich people talk about themselves isn’t great. I’d love more books but it’s gonna be a long time if ever. It’s cool she’s thought about it though.
I did roll my eyes at various points on that, but in fairness to Rowling, it’s Oprah that gets obsessed over the money issue. (And in fairness to Oprah, it’s pretty much the entire media — it’s just that Oprah can do pretty much whatever she wants, so she should know better. LOL.)
As I pointed out in 2008 when we discussed this, Each Harry Potter Film makes a Billion dollars worldwide at the box office. Their is a Harry Potter theme park now that needs to sell tickets. In my opinion, JK Rowling is basically going to be George Lucas and make create a new batch of books/films after many years because of the public outcry and the hundreds of millions of dollars she will make. 10 years from now we will have Harry Potter films of some type please tell me if you think I am wrong about this.
That theme park will sell tickets with or without a new movie. Dont worry about that.
And while no one woudl deny that logic makes sense and that it is within the realm of possibility that she WILL do more books, she has said she wont. And even when she teases us again she usually flounders back to “… but I probably wont”
What is more likely to happen is that she will license them out into other books. There likely will be more Potter product out there, but she probably wont be the one writing it.
I don’t disagree that there will be a crapload of internal and external pressure on Jo Rowling to write more Harry Potter series, or series within the Hogwarts universe. I don’t even disagree with the idea that she may succumb to it. However, I do take umbridge with the fact that you think Jo Rowling would become the next George Lucas.
George Lucas wasn’t wrong to think it was a good idea to, after long last, expand upon the franchise. He was wrong because he blatantly ruined it by aiming it at the kiddies and not keeping (at least the prequels) within the same spirit of the originals.
Rowling, on the other hand, instead of dumbing her books down as they came out, grew with them. She wrote far more adult (and interesting) books post Chamber of Secreats than she did before it. Her final two books took huge leaps in where they went compared to the originals, and they were good books. She’s kept things intelligent and certainly in the same spirit as the original, despite the fact that this thing ballooned.
I submit that had George Lucas done to Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi what he did to his prequels, instead of talking about Star Wars like this giant thing that inspired generations of people, we’d be talking about some blip on the radar screen, that was a good idea with terrible follow-up, a la The Matrix and Pirates of the Carribean franchises, instead of the Harry Potter (or even Lord of the Rings) franchises.
Geez, nice job with the coverage on this.
I take it your a big harry pooter fan?
Prequels. She should do a full series about Harry’s parents… Hogwarts back when they were kids.
That’s exactly what I thought Rodney was going to say with, “Do like the Star Wars novels…”.
I agree that that’d be pretty neat, but wouldn’t be the branching out that Rodney just suggested – and in fact, I agree with.
But prequels would be interesting… but not really informative in any way.
Although there is potential to write about Jim and Lily, I’m just so sick of prequels. Prequels are the new Sequels and it’s getting old. Everyone is doing a Prequel.
I wouldn’t want a whole entire series about his parents and the things they went through, but I wouldn’t mind reading a book or two about them.
That said, there’s probably more potential for future books in the world she built than the Potter family itself. Harry Potter was never the most interesting part about the books, he was just the vehicle from which to tell the story. At the risk of sounding a little too much like one particular woman of recent fame/infamy (and possible witch sympathizer – LOL), ‘Harry is us.’
BTW: This is no slight against Harry, or Jo Rowling for the way she wrote Harry; most protagonists in epic-adventure territory aren’t the most interesting things about the story. Do people think Star Wars became what it is today (or was before the prequels, anyway), because of Luke Skywalker? Hell no.
why keep hinting that you are going to make another book when you just come around and say that you probably wount?
I love the world Rowling has created, and I would love to have more books from Rowling, but I think the Harry Potter story is over.
I’d rather have stories from other places in her world. Voodoo wizards in New Orleans? Witch doctors in Africa? Or maybe a story centered around Durmstrang? A prequel following The Marauders would be cool as well.
There’s so many opportunities, but I don’t think there should be any more books centered around Harry Potter.
Rodney we talked about this a few years ago. I was right I told you.
I love the world Rowling has created, and I would love to have more books from Rowling, but I think the Harry Potter story is over.
I’d rather have stories from other places in her world. Voodoo wizards in New Orleans? Witch doctors in Africa? Or maybe a story centered around Durmstrang? A prequel following The Marauders would be cool as well.
There’s so many opportunities, but I don’t think there should be any more books centered around Harry Potter.
I dont know what you are claiming to be right about.
I predicted a long time ago that one day she might return to the books. At that time however she had adamantly said she would not and even said she wrote the “ten years later” epilogue to assure that she never would. It was well understood back then that she wouldn’t and so far, she is teasing but still says she probably wont.
Still room for so much more.