I can’t believe it’s almost been a whole year since the last Harry Potter movie was released in theaters. It is now time for the fans of the blockbuster series to look towards the future and begin to imagine what will become of Harry, Ron and Hermione in the coming years.
There have been rumors for some time now that J.K. Rowling has been planning an entirely new Harry Potter story that will be set post-Pottermore. While the news that she signed a development deal with Netflix certainly suggests that these rumors might be true, it doesn’t explain where the idea came from or why it took her so long to bring it to the screen. With each passing year, it seems, Harry Potter’s world grows a little bit more incomprehensible.
Rowling’s Decades of Impressions
If you’ve been paying attention to the books and movies over the past decade+, you’ll know that Rowling’s Harry Potter series is, in a word, impressive. The books have sold over 300 million copies worldwide and been translated into dozens of languages, and the film series has become the highest-grossing movie series of all time (to date).
It’s hard to put into words just how much of an impact Rowling’s Harry Potter stories have had on readers, filmgoers and the wizarding world itself. The books have continually inspired both writers and artists, and a decade after they first came out, they still feel as fresh and groundbreaking as they did on their first publication!
Since the Potter series ended, Rowling has gone on to amaze audiences with the conclusion of the Deathly Hallows saga in 2011, the news in 2012 that she had become a proud grandmother, and, most recently, with the details about her new movie project.
It’s clear that, in addition to being an author, Rowling is an incredibly wise and considerate woman who has watched her audience grow up alongside the Harry Potter stories. When she decided to end the series, she must have known that it wasn’t yet time for the characters to hang up their wands, and she certainly didn’t do so without leaving a huge impact on the wizarding world and its inhabitants.
The Future of an Iconic Series
Even now, as she gets ready to begin production on her new movie, it’s impossible to predict just how successful Rowling’s Harry Potter will be. The series is absolutely iconic, and with good reason: it was ahead of its time when it came out, and still is today!
One of the reasons why the Harry Potter series was so groundbreaking is that it introduced readers to a new kind of magical world filled with exciting ideas and new themes that hadn’t been seen before. One of the biggest themes of the Harry Potter books is equality, especially between magical and non-magical people. While many children’s series before it focused on upper-class and wealthy individuals, the majority of Harry Potter’s cases are comprised of low-income families and individuals who lack the means to pay for decent educations. The series champions diversity and fairness, and it presents a more accurate picture of the world we live in now than many adult series ever have.
These days, we rarely see magical creatures and settings outside of children’s books and movies. While we wait patiently for the next instalment in the series, it’s worth remembering that, fifty years from now, fans may still be praising Harry Potter’s groundbreaking stories and impactful themes. Who knows? Maybe one day we’ll even see a magical Harry Potter series on Netflix!