Hogwarts Herald

Today’s /Film “Geek Report” (Hey! What are they calling us?! I consider myself more of a nerd than a geek, if there is indeed any difference.) has snippets from an interview with Prisoner of Azkaban Director Alfanso Cuarón…and where he thinks the Harry Potter series is headed…and if he thinks Harry will die:

“‘I don’t know, I had this same conversation with someone the other day about that,’ said Cuarón. ‘In one hand it makes sense, in the other hand - how do you finish Harry Potter if you kill Harry? What is the resolution of the tale? How is she going to finish the seven books and not have any temptation to do an eighth book?’ Cuarón asked. ‘I don’t know. And that kind of stuff, I have a really good relationship with JK, but I don’t mess with that.’”

The /Film blog also opens the mic to director Guillermo Del Toro of Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth fame for his take on the Harry Potter books.

First, though, put this in the category of You learn something new every day—Guillermo Del Toro was asked to direct Prisoner of Azkaban before they approached Alfanso Cuarón, but he declined:

“And I frankly felt the kids were too… healthy for me. Not the type of kids that I’m interested in portraying. So I called the producer and said, ‘If you ever wanna kill those kids, I’d be your guy.’”

That’s perfectly understandable…you’ve got to stick with what you know and what you’re comfortable with doing. But what does he think of Harry Potter?

“I’m reading the books as they come out, and I’m enjoying the hell out of them. I actually think it’s heading to a darker place, the entire saga, and I’m really happy about that. I’m really happy about that. I think it’s really coming to a place where they’re really gonna encounter darkness.”

True. True. There’s no denying the Potter books have headed into darker and darker territory…and Book 7 will likely be the darkest yet. But Cuarón hits the nail on the head with this one:

“‘How do you create the ending of a saga which is not a downer if Harry dies?’ asked Cuarón. ‘And this is the only thing I am certain, that whatever she does is going to have an amazing kind of spin at the end. Because she’s aware of what Harry Potter is and means in terms of the collective consciousness of humanity. Whatever she will do, I don’t think it’s going to be careless.’”

Well said. We can trust in one thing…J.K. Rowling will do what’s right for Book 7. She’s never let us down in the past, and I don’t see her letting us down in the future.

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