Would Daniel Radcliffe Return For Another 'Harry Potter' Movie?

The Harry Potter books and film series may be over, but J.K. Rowling's Wizarding World continues to live on. There are the short stories and essays published on Pottermore. There is the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which explores this familiar universe in a different time and place. And then there is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the ambitious stage play sequel to the original series currently dominating the London theater scene that Warner Bros. says won't get a film adaptation anytime soon (but go ahead and ask them again in ten years).

So when someone asks film series star, Daniel Radcliffe, if he'd be willing to reprise his role as Harry Potter for a new movie, it's all theoretical. But let's face it – chances are strong you're curious about what he says. It's okay. You're only human, and a Muggle at that.

Radcliffe was in attendance at the Deauville Film Festival, where he was the recipient of the Rising Star Award, and The Hollywood Reporter asked him the big question. Would he say no to another Harry Potter movie down the line? His answer is diplomatic and the exact kind of response you'd expect from a young actor who has grown up carefully navigating the spotlight:

I'm never going to close the door; that would be a stupid thing to do. But I think I'll be happy enough and secure enough to let someone else play it. [...] At the moment it's not even a concern because I'm too young to play the character, but even in 10 years' time I would still feel strange about going back to it. [...] There's a part of me that's like, some things are better left untouched. If we went back to Potter, there's a chance we'd make what Star Wars: The Force Awakens was to the original Star Wars, but there's also the chance that we'd make Phantom Menace. So I don't want to go back to anything like that and maybe sour what people have already loved.

In other words, he'd do it as long as it doesn't stink (a prospect easier said than done). He also adds that Jamie Parker, who plays the older Harry in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on stage, could easily play the character on film.

I really liked reading the script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (and have written all about its similarities to Star Wars: The Force Awakens) and think it's teeming with cinematic potential. However, a quickly produced film adaptation leaves a lot of money on the table. It's why you won't see a Hamilton movie for a long, long time. As long as a stage play is still packing houses and generating demand, you don't make a film version that lets everyone see it. That's just basic business. Daniel Radcliffe isn't taking the thought of another Potter movie seriously yet and neither should you.

Besides, Radcliffe is quickly becoming one of our most brave and ambitious actors, playing magical corpses in movies like Swiss Army Man and neo-Nazis in Imperium. Let's give him some space. Plus, a new Harry Potter movie starring the original cast would be far more satisfying if we wait another decade to let the actors properly age into their older selves.