Warner Bros. wants more Harry Potter movies as Fantastic Beasts put on hold

Warner Bros. wants more Harry Potter movies, at least according to CEO David Zaslav. During an investor's call, he explained that the company is "going to have a real focus on franchises" going forward, despite having just shelved the Fantastic Beasts series – set in the Harry Potter universe – for the time being.

"We haven't had a Superman movie in 13 years. We haven't done a Harry Potter in 15 years. The DC movies and the Harry Potter movies provided a lot of the profits for Warner Bros. … over the past 25 years," he claimed (via Deadline). 

Zaslav then added that the only way the studio would want to expand its Wizarding World output is if J.K. Rowling was involved. According to Variety, though, there are currently "no active discussions" between the Harry Potter author and the company regarding future films.

Rowling has become somewhat of a controversial figure in the years since Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was released, having been accused of sharing transphobic views online. She was not involved in HBO's reunion special, though she later said she'd declined an invite to appear. 

When Harry Potter fans noticed that her name was omitted from the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Warner Bros. released a statement that read: "For 20 years, Warner Bros., J.K. Rowling, and her team have worked together to delight fans around the world with spectacular storytelling and the magic of the Wizarding World."

Between 2001 and 2011, Warner Bros. released eight Harry Potter flicks, grossing $7.7 billion globally. So far, the Fantastic Beasts trilogy has accumulated $1.8 billion, despite diminishing returns upon the release of each follow-up. (The Secrets of Dumbledore made $405.2 million as opposed to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them's $812.5 million).

Originally intended to be a five-movie series, the prequel series has had its own share of controversies offscreen. First, original Grindelwald actor Johnny Depp was replaced with Mads Mikkelsen following his public domestic violence dispute with ex-wife Amber Heard. Ezra Miller, who played Credence Barebone, has since been accused of felony and burglary. The Secrets of Dumbledore had a surprisingly neat ending for a movie that would reportedly spawn two sequels, so it's hardly a shock that Warner Bros. has put a pin in the spin-off's five-picture arc for now.

While we wait to see whether Warner Bros. manages to make more Harry Potter films, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies coming our way across the rest of 2022 and beyond.