Streaming is eating up the cinema and its stars. The most recent example: Jude Law portrayed the famous wizard Dumbledore in the “Fantastic Beasts” series. Now Law suspects the series has been discontinued. The reason: the planned “Harry Potter” streaming series.
In the “Fantastic Beasts” film series he played the young wizard Dumbledore. Now acting star Jude Law (51) suspects that he will lose his role to “Harry Potter” of all things. A new streaming series about the popular Sorcerer’s Apprentice probably led to the film series being discontinued, said Law in an interview with Variety magazine.
“I liked his heart”
In “The Crimes of Grindelwald” (2018) and “Dumbledore’s Secrets” (2022), Law lent his bearded face to the young wizard Dumbledore, later headmaster of the Hogwarts magic school. In the films, Dumbledore struggles, among other things, with his identity as a gay man who falls in love with Grindelwald. However, the love remains unrequited and leads to the fight with Grindelwald and the death of Dumbledore’s sister.
“I think he always felt guilty about being deceived about his love,” Law told the magazine. Through the role of Dumbledore, he found “a nice place” for himself as an actor. “I liked his heart, and that’s why I enjoyed playing him. I always enjoyed following in his footsteps,” Law said.
“As far as I know, that’s it”
As touching as his appreciation of the role is, it sounds like a definitive end to the film series. Is his time as Dumbledore over? “At least I know the film series is on hold.” There is also “nothing new on the horizon”. Law said Warner Bros.’s focus is likely to be on a new “Harry Potter” streaming series: “My guess is that now that they’re making ‘Harry Potter,’ they’re probably going to put their energy into that.”
Lead actor Eddie Redmayne (42) recently made similar comments. In “Fantastic Beasts” he plays Newt Scamander. “I think viewers have probably seen the last of Newt,” Redmayne said. “You’d have to talk to the people at Warner Bros. and JK Rowling, but as far as I know that’s it.”
Series Production from April 2025
Originally, five parts of the “Fantastic Beasts” film series were planned, based on books by Potter author Rowling. After the spectacular and profitable start of the first part “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” in 2016, the magic and box office success noticeably diminished with the second and third parts. While the worldwide box office gross of part one was $814 million, part three only achieved just over half that amount. In April 2023, Warner Bros. revealed ideas for a new HBO series about “Harry Potter” for the first time. The plans were finalized this fall. Production is scheduled to start in April 2025. It is not yet clear when the series will be available.
By (jök/spot)
