Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is without question the biggest selling playscript. Picking up twenty-years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows left off, the story follows the strained relationship between Harry Potter and his middle child Albus Severus (who fans unanimously agree is one of the worst named characters since Renesmee).
Despite its monetary success, Cursed Child has earned a mixed reception from fans, some of which choose to ignore its existence altogether. With so much working for and against it, could Cursed Child work as a film?
Will: The Soundtrack
Imogen Heap composed the score for Cursed Child and has created a suite of music that is whimsical, beautiful, and at times haunting. It’s perhaps better than even the film scores from all eight films.
Heap’s music underscores almost the entire play and when paired with the many dance scenes it creates a sense we’re watching a ballet or full-blown musical at times. If a film adaptation leaned into this style, it would not only differentiate it from the rest of the Harry Potter films but if done right it could become one of the better stage-to-screen adaptations.
Won’t: Losing The Stage Production, Which Is The Real Winner
In simple terms, people buy tickets for Cursed Child because it is part of the Harry Potter brand. The script itself - story by JK Rowling plus American writers Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, written for the stage by Thorne - isn’t anything spectacular. The real praise and magic of Cursed Child are how they’ve brought to life an otherwise average script and turned it into a spectacular feature. The staircase ballet, rotating stage platform and use of real effects designed by magician/illusionist Chris Fisher are the star features of Cursed Child, and yet they’re all factors that can only be pulled off on the stage.
Will: Reunited Original Cast
It goes without saying, some of the casting choices for Cursed Child have been controversial. Aside from that, chances are that if you aren’t a UK native then you saw a version of the play where the actors didn’t deliver a British accent. Hearing Harry, Ron, and Hermione speak with the wrong accent breaks the immersion of the show.
On top of that, considering Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, and Tom Felton (who are all around their 30s now) played these characters for ten years, it feels inauthentic to see another actor in their roles. The only recasting to be done would be for the late Alan Rickman; although Benedict Cumberbatch could be a well-received replacement.
Won’t: Badly Written & Out Of Character
Touching back on the previous point, Rowling wrote these characters for ten years, and the original actors played these roles for just as long. If there is anyone who has a deep understanding of these characters, then it is Rowling and the film cast. The theater actors are able to inject their own take into their portrayal - but it doesn’t always feel true to the characters the Potter fandom has loved for so long.
Cursed Child is riddled with plot holes, inconsistencies with the canon, characters written out of character, lacking the same voice and charm as the books, and overall feels more like fanfiction than an official continuation of the series.
Will: Harry > Newt
The Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film series has gotten off to a shaky start. The first film fared well, but the follow up The Crimes of Grindelwald was criticized for just about everything from writing, to casting choices, to consistency within canon.
The spin-off series hasn’t earned the same love and loyalty as the original series. Chances are if given the choice of more Newt or revisiting Harry and his friends, the general public and devoted fans would choose the boy who lived.
Won’t: Too Long
Cursed Child is such a behemoth of a play, that it is broken into two separate performances, each consisting of a 2.5+ hour running time and twenty-minute intervals. To see the entire show would take just under seven hours.
And yet, despite its drawn-out length, there are considerable issues with pacing. The first five years of Albus’s time at Hogwarts are crammed into a few minutes, skimming over daily life at Hogwarts, which are the details made readers fall in love with the original books. For a show that is incredibly long, it is also considerably lacking in substance.
Will: Rewritten For The Screen
Yes, there are issues with timing, particularly pacing and structure. But if done properly - either broken down into a film duology or into a limited series - and done by the right writer (Steve Kloves could return, or some new blood could be brought in) Cursed Child has the potential to be done well.
Cursed Child as a stage show could be suffering simply for the fact the writers didn’t know how to edit down all the elements they wished to include, or when to cut the fanservice. Cursed Child is in dire need of breathing room, which can be done on screen.
Won’t: Plot Holes
When did Voldemort ever make any mention of wanting an heir? Why didn’t Albus just tell the Sorting Hat he wanted to be in Gryffindor? Are we meant to believe young James Potter and Sirius Black, or Fred and George Weasley, never tried escaping from the Hogwarts Express and discovered the trolley lady is a security system? Is Cedric Diggory’s turn for evil really believable? How are Albus and Scorpius able to see Lily Potter taking a stroll with her pram when she is meant to be in hiding? Wasn’t McGonagall meant to be retired - just like she was meant to only be a student during Crimes of Grindelwald? Are we sure the portrayal of Snape isn’t just a thinly veiled attempt to convince some fans that he really was a true hero and not a toxic bully?
So much of Cursed Child doesn’t make sense. On its own, and in comparison to the whole Harry Potter franchise. Could a film version make any of these questions go away?
Will: Accessibility
The cost of tickets to see Cursed Child - remember, audiences must purchase two sets of tickets to see the full show - are extortionate. To see the play with your family or friends could cost anywhere from $500 to upwards of $1000. Not everyone has that kind of money to burn. Which, unfortunately, creates a sense of classism and a horrible vibe of what it means to be a true fan.
At the very least, a film adaptation would be able to even the field for all fans, giving everyone the chance to see the same body of work for the same price.
Won’t: Isn’t Loved By The Fandom
As mentioned earlier, a significant amount of Potter fans have rejected Cursed Child, as well as the infamous Deathly Hallows epilogue. If a percentage of your target audience has already decided to ignore your work’s validity within franchise canon, then you’ve got to work damage control to gain your audience back.
Without a doubt, any kind of adaptation of Cursed Child would sell. Without a doubt, it would make a huge profit at the box office, and more with mass merchandising and a surge in book sales. But numbers and money don’t always correlate with the quality of your film/show or the love from your audience. If you can’t deliver something that ticks those last two boxes, then are you really the winner?
