HARRY POTTER PREQUEL COMING TO THE STAGE

Warner Bros. is “involved” in plans to produce a Harry Potter play in London to be co-written and -produced by J.K. Rowling, the author of the novels on which the studio’s billion-dollar franchise was based, the London Daily Mail reported today (Friday). The studio is presumably waiting to see how preparations for the play shake out before deciding on the extent of its participation in the project. An unnamed top executive at Warner’s told the newspaper, “We will see what we have when it’s written, and proceed from there.” According to the report, playwright Jack Thorne and stage director John Tiffany have been selected by Rowling to collaborate with her and negotiations with them are currently at an early stage. The play will effectively serve as a prequel to the novels, the Mail report suggests, exploring the boy wizard’s early years and the story of his parents. “Oh, and there will be magic!” it added. London theater executives have reportedly begun bidding for the play, including those with the largest audience capacity, several of which are controlled by Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group. “Remember, it’s a play, not a musical,” the Warner Bros. exec told the Mail, “so we may not require a great big theater.”