If only they could wave a magic wand, studio executives at Warner Bros. would make their "Harry Potter" film franchise last forever. But movie magic takes more than a whisk of a stick to conjure up.
When "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" opens on July 15, it marks the beginning of the end for the highest grossing movie series of all time [$6 billion worldwide box office] and one that has given Hollywood studio Warner Bros. a stable revenue source since 2001.
The end of "Harry Potter" has led financial analysts to wonder what Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., has planned to fill the gap when the series about the young magician, his friends, and their battle against evil comes to an end.
With this eighth movie, Warner Bros. has tapped all the books in the "Harry Potter" series from author J.K. Rowling, which are the backbone of the films.
For summer 2012, Warner Bros can bank on "The Dark Knight Rises," the third Batman movie directed by Christopher Nolan and the follow-up to his 2008 "The Dark Knight," which topped $1 billion in world ticket sales.
Also next year, the studio looks to release its highly anticipated "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," which is a prequel to its successful "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros is busy on the next Superman movie, "Man of Steel," set for release in 2012. The studio hopes to reverse the mediocre performance of 2006's "Superman Returns."
Would all these reboots of existing franchises and sequels of already existing properties help Warner Bros. studios to fill the gap as planned? We are sure to find out soon.
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