After years of development and multiple delays, Hogwarts Legacy launched in February and needed just two weeks to sell 12 million copies and drive $850 million in revenue. The game is a huge success, and its quick start shows there is “so much more opportunity” within the Harry Potter series, according to WB Discovery CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels.
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley 2023 Technology Media Telecom Conference (via Variety), Wiedenfels said, “The fact that we are enjoying this massive success with the Hogwarts Legacy launch, 12 years after the last film came out, shows that there is so much opportunity and we’re only just starting to expand that.”
From that quote, it sounds like Wiedenfels is forgetting about the Fantastic Beasts series, which had its last release, The Secrets of Dumbledore, in 2022. The mainline Harry Potter series, though, did indeed wrap up 12 years ago in 2011.
As for upcoming Harry Potter projects, Widenfels mentioned the Harry Potter tour event in Tokyo this year.
“Long story short, I think this one-company approach, great leadership in the individual business units, but coordinated franchise management is probably one of the biggest opportunities the company has,” Wiedenfels said about the company’s future.
Given the huge success of Hogwarts Legacy, it wouldn’t be a surprise if a sequel gets announced, especially so because the developers have said they have no plans for DLC. Perhaps Quidditch, which didn’t appear in Hogwarts Legacy, might show up in a potential sequel.
Outside of the game series, WB Discovery boss David Zaslav is reportedly interested in creating more Harry Potter content, and one possibility is a live-action TV series for HBO Max.
WB Discovery appears to be focusing, in part, on major tentpole franchises. In addition to more Harry Potter content, the company is producing a new slate of Lord of the Rings movies, but don’t expect them anytime soon.
