It was very popular. One of the highest selling games of the year actually. The anti-JK talk doesnt really impact most people’s love for HP. We all know she wrote the books and created the HP world, but despite whatever she says or does, people still love HP as much as ever. Even if many don’t like her, they can’t deny the fact that the books and movies are still popular and nostalgic for many. They are already building a third HP part in the new Universal park opening in 2025.
I don’t think that a modern TV-show will be able to start a “mania” with completely new characters. 00s HP was a lightning in a bottle with lots and lots thoughts and heart put into it.
Not to mention that HP is heavily attached to the original cast. People watch it because those are “Christmas movies” as well.
HP tv-show sounds like a thing based on teenage drama (those late movies that people don’t like that much compared to first 4 ones). It can bring some tiktok popularity like Wednesday show, but i don’t think it can do a pottermania 2.0.
PS:
Video game released this year already had the fantasy feel of 00s movies and it didn’t do anything despite becoming insanely popular and having expensive collectables that were instantly bought.
In fact - Harry Potter Game and Atomic Heart hype at the start of this year (they brought insane amount of scandals and drama around them on Twitter) felt more like “aperitif” before actually popular games that made people invest hours in them (Bauldur’s Gate 3, Zelda tears of the kingdom and etc.)
This is a great year of games that will be remembered but HP and Atomic Heart kinda already forgotten… While people still play Pizza Tower.
Harry Potter has always seemed to better translate into more experiential products than physical collectibles. Fans will invest time and money to go to Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Station to buy a Chocolate Frog and eat it but there’s not a substantial number of fans that actually care to collect all the cards inside.
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Harry Potter has merch all over it but there isn’t anything heavily solid to collect.
Except Lego sets.
Those are awesome and also a good investiment if you are into that (it’s both-a lego set and also a harry potter set 2 investiments in 1 haha ).
So…yeah…may be not that much of a “boom” but HP is not a thing that is being “slept on”.
Those Wizards of the coast HP cards of the 00s already expensive and investable as well.
I would definitely put it like that:
- Lego sets
- WOTC cards
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I think that HP has largely suffered from a lack of new and good content since the end of the movies some 12 years ago. Sure, the Fantastic Beast movies came about, but lets not sugar coat it. They simply weren’t good. I think that WB has struggled to find footing in something that can bring a lot of new people into HP that isn’t reruns of the old movies. The FB movies were an attempt, but ultimately weren’t as great as people hoped. There’s been virtually zero “good” HP games, with exceptions being the Lego games, a couple of the original HP games for Gameboy and playstation, and perhaps a mobile game here or there. HL was the first “good” HP game in more than a decade and was one of the reasons it was so popular.
I guess the point im trying to get at is that HP is still super popular, but it struggles to capture newer audiences. I think WB is trying to find some way to fix that, but are hurdled by several things: the nostalgia felt for the original movies/books and lack of interest in new “Wizarding World” things, the lack of new HP books and stories written by JK Rowling, the lack of successful games and movies, the original cast vs new cast debates, pandering, JK’s reluctance to step aside/get involved
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I was soooo…so excited for Fantastic Beasts…i genuinely was prepared for another good ride of new HP-esque movies for hp fans that grew up.
I loved that the first movie had adults as lead characters.
But then it all ended with nothing.
Still loved shiny collectable Panini stickers (basically collectable cards if you don’t stick them into albums) that came out with each movie, but that’s about it.
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im suprised kpop photocards aren’t mentioned here
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Wasn’t Walt Disney a big antisemitic? Franchise seems to do fine still so I would worry about HP because of JK that much.
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Walt Disney is also dead and not running his mouth on Twitter all day.
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And then there’s Tolkien who, as an ultra-conservative catholic born in the Victorian era, would clearly and obviously have held a whole host of opinions that would leave him liable to the persecution of todays cancel culture. Almost as popular as Harry Potter.
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While I do think Harry Potter while do fine despite backlash against JK, I don’t think she’s comparable at all to other deceased artists. JK is alive today with considerable influence and still gains money from your purchases of Harry Potter stuff which is why there is push to boycott Harry Potter stuff.