We live in a society that’s all about money and if anything’s successful, chances are it will be milked so the people involved can earn as much money from it as they can. The Harry Potter books were a publishing phenomenon: not only are they the bestselling book series in history with over 450 million copies sold worldwide, they spawned a film series that is the second most successful in history with $7.7 billion taken worldwide; only the Marvel Cinematic Universe series has done better. Since the books and the films were released, the franchise hasn’t exactly fizzled out…we’ve had theme park lands, a sequel stage play and a three-part spin-off film series set within the Potter universe long before Harry was even born. So we ask: is J.K. Rowling milking the Harry Potter franchise a bit too much?
Yes – enough is enough
There are some who would have been happy to see the franchise put to rest after the last film came out in July 2011. For some, books and films are enough; they don’t need spin-offs and prequels and sequels…they’re happy just to have the original story and don’t need it to be expanded in any way. To give J.K. Rowling credit, she has tried her hand at other non-Potter writing projects: there’s The Casual Vacancy, as well as three crime novels published under the pen name Robert Galbraith, Cuckoo’s Calling, The Silkworm and Career of Evil. Her crime novels especially have received a lot of critical acclaim and some think she should leave the wizarding world behind for good and focus on writing more adult novels.
No – we want more Potter!
J.K. Rowling created an amazing world and who can blame her for wanting to explore it more? It’s not like she needs the money – the Harry Potter books alone have set her up for life. She can do as many Potter-related projects as she likes and fans know that she isn’t doing it for the money, she’s doing it because she loves the world she created and she knows fans across the world want to find out more about the wizarding world. Why not give the fans what they want? The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park lands in Orlando, Hollywood and Osaka have all been exceptionally successful and continue to pull in huge crowds – a sure sign that the franchise is still hugely popular. The franchise is clearly going to be popular for many years to come, so why not flesh it out?
Summary
So what do you think? Should J.K. Rowling have put the Harry Potter franchise to rest when she finished the last book, or should she continue to expand the wizarding world and satisfy fan demand? Wouldn’t you do the same if you were in her shoes?
