What J.K. Rowling said about Harry Potter post-'Cursed Child'

Rowling spoke about her plans for Harry Potter following the premiere of the play 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,' which depicts Harry and his family years after the events of the original books and films.

Almost 20 years after the public first became acquainted with the Boy Who Lived, his creator, author J.K. Rowling, says she believes she’s done with the story of Harry Potter. 

Ms. Rowling spoke about the character following the premiere of the stage play “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” which tells the story of an adult Harry and his children, based on a story on which Rowling worked. The two-part play officially opened in the West End in London on July 30. 

“He goes on a very big journey during these two plays,” Rowling said in an interview with Reuters. “And then, yeah, I think we're done. This is the next generation, you know. So, I'm thrilled to see it realized so beautifully but, no, Harry is done now.” 

Fans have seized on the detail that Rowling specifically mentioned only Harry, the original protagonist of her wildly popular book series.

The wizarding world will continue with the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” movie series, the first installment of which will open this November. The movie series is based on a “textbook” from Harry’s classroom, later published by Rowling. The film tells the story of the book’s author, Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), and his adventures. The movie co-stars Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, and Alison Sudol. 

This “Fantastic” movie continuation even as Harry’s story comes to an end reflects how franchises continue to be brought back in Hollywood today, even if the new projects don’t center on the original characters. 

Ending a series seems to be more common in the book world – for example, bestselling series like the "Hunger Games" novels and the "Divergent" series have not been continued in a literary fashion, though Stephanie Meyer has published two followups to the "Twilight" books.

It's often different with movies and TV. For example, this summer’s “Ghostbusters” movie told a familiar story, but the film is not a seque. It depicts all-new characters rather than continuing the story of Dr. Ray Stantz, Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddmore. 

And while the final movie in the “Divergent” series, which is based on the bestselling young adult books by Veronica Roth, is reportedly not coming to theaters, the story will be adapted as a TV movie and then a spin-off TV series in the same universe but with new characters, according to industry insiders.