Universal Studios has announced that it plans to open a new Harry Potter theme park in Hollywood, California. This announcement comes almost two years after the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park opened in Orlando, Florida.
The park has been a resounding success, seeing more visitors in its first six months of existence as the park’s owners expected to see in the entire first year. And the visitors have continued to come. This shows that the Harry Potter franchise did not run out of steam with the release of the last of the Harry Potter movies, as many people expected. Instead, demand seems to be higher than ever. With author JK Rowling’s new venture set in the world of Harry Potter, Pottermore, expected to open to the public any day now, it remains to be seen just how big the demand for Harry Potter merchandise remains.
Many fans were happy to see that Warner Brothers finally released a Harry Potter blu-ray box set of DVDs, but it seems that just as many were disappointed to find that it was not the long-awaited “ultimate edition” that they had longed for. In France and in the UK, the deluxe edition, which included all the DVDs in a fancy wooden box with a replica of the Elder Wand on top, was released this year, but no such version appeared on the market in the United States. Instead, Americans were treated to a simple collection of all eight movies in their theatrical release cuts.
It seems that Warner Brothers’ strategy may be similar to that of the makers of Star Wars, who have released several different versions of the Star Wars box set over the last several years. Devoted fans have lined up to buy each and every edition of the movies, but not without some grumbling about feeling gouged. Warner Brothers also seems to be trying to increase the demand for these DVDs by announcing that they will be pulling the films from the market at the end of December, 2011. Many observers anticipate that they will re-release the films in time for Christmas 2012, and that the versions released then may include the ultimate editions that so many fans have expected.
If you want to book a trip to Hollywood to take in the new park, you will want to hold on for just a while…the new park will be in construction for the next several years. In fact, it is not expected to open to the public until sometime in 2016!
