Wes Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Was out all day but surprised I didn't see this bit of news posted. Ron Meyer, the head of Universal, gave a pretty candid Q&A session where he ripped a bunch of their movies. It's an interesting read, especially when CEO's are supposed to be more "positive" about their company: http://www.chud.com/73193/pres-ron-meyer-speaks-on-universals-shitty-movies-telling-the-big-names-no-and-more-potter-theme-parks/ Buried in the article was this piece of news: Finally, Meyer dropped a completely detail-less hint about future Harry Potter parks outside of Florida by responding simply, “yes,” to a question about having any such plans. So clearly the man likes money, and to make lots of it… So who wants to start speculating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World (“…kind of a good movie, but none of you guys went!”) Pretty much sums up that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 ^Yeah. Though I hope more people watch that movie now on DVD, as it's really good. Great article, though I still say he's 100% wrong on passing on Del Toro's At The Mountain Of Madness. Still hope he gets to make that some day, the passion he has for this project alone would make it worth seeing. As far as Harry Potter parks, I'd imagine they'd love to put one in the UK and somewhere in Asia. Maybe at one of their Universal parks. What sort of expansion area do they have at the ones in Japan or Singapore? dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSum1_55 Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 I just have four words to say: Oh god, not again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 We were just talking about this with some friends last week and pretty much decided they could level the entire upper lot other than Simpsons at USH and Potterize it. Gross, but completely possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gisco Posted November 5, 2011 Share Posted November 5, 2011 I think it would be funny that if by the time they get around to building another Potterville that the craze had passsed and it is a bust. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
osm Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Then again I'm not sure how popular if at all Harry Potter is over seas. It's very popular just about everywhere. I think it would be funny that if by the time they get around to building another Potterville that the craze had passsed and it is a bust. Wouldn't exactly call a series that has been popular for almost 15 years a "craze." As for my thoughts, I think that if it makes Universal money, they should do it. However I would hope that they solve some of the capacity problems at IOA that lead to disgusting crowds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 ^depends on your defintion. When a fad fails to fade and has staying power, it can be considered a craze. Crazes have momentum, fads don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 It will be interesting to see if the Harry Potter franchise remains popular for years and decades now that both the books and the movies ore completed, with no more forthcoming. All signs point to it becoming a children's classic (and one for many adults, too), with longevity. but in today's world, where people have such short attention spans and desires for NEW entertainment, it will be interesting to see if they remain as huge as they are now, or at least still huge. I'd imagine that Warner's decision to stop selling the DVD's and Blu-Rays at the end of the year will NOT help it's longevity. While it will obviously spur sales now, it may hurt its long term longevity, as the next generation of kids growing up has less access to the movies. That said, Harry Potter is HUGE overseas, even bigger in Europe than it is in the US. I was in Finland when the last one came out, and there were posters for it everywhere. They didn't even have to put the name of the movie, franchise or character. The posters merely said HP7 part 2. And everyone know what that was. Look on boxofficemojo, and you'll see that unlike many successful movie franchises, all eight of the movies made more than 2/3 of their box office total overseas. The finale made nearly a billion dollars outside of the US. Compare that to many of the other biggest blockbusters in the US, such as most super-hero movies, DIsney/Pixar movies and the Star Wars movies, almost all of which routinely take in only 40-60% of their total gross overseas. Of course, building further Harry Potter parks or sections of parks would probably be most successful ASAP. After all, why not strike while the iron is hot? That could only further build the franchise, encouraging more visitors in the future and return visitors. But no matter when they build them, I'm sure they'll be wildly successful. The only real question is HOW wildly successful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterfreak101 Posted November 6, 2011 Share Posted November 6, 2011 Honestly, does everyone really believe that Harry Potter is through? With CG nowadays, they can remake these movies with scenery and spells and whatnot all happening in 3D. There's another seven movies right there. And then J.K. has stated that if she felt the need to write another book, she wouldn't refrain from doing so. I don't think we've seen the end of the series - maybe for the books, but the movies are a cash cow that I don't think they're ready to give up just yet. And I think that Harry Potter will have some staying power, like Star Wars. There's a lot of kids that couldn't care less about the Star Wars franchise, but there's all the adults that lived through the revolutionary special effects of the original trilogy and then there's plenty of kids who still love the movies as well - though Harry Potter has sort of taken that audience, as I'm sure another franchise will in another decade or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCalCoasters Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 We were just talking about this with some friends last week and pretty much decided they could level the entire upper lot other than Simpsons at USH and Potterize it. Gross, but completely possible. If they actually did that, I'd probably die. Frankly, I can understand why in short term, a WWoHP might be profitable, I'm not quite sure how successful the lands will be in the long term, especially since the final book and movie have now been released, I can see popularity beginning to die down a bit. If they were to start construction now, it would still take 2 years or so to build, and by then I think something bigger and better will have come along to take HP's popularity throne. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wes Posted November 7, 2011 Author Share Posted November 7, 2011 (edited) Ug can we just stop with the same dumb "Will Harry Potter be popular?" argument for pete's sake, there's literally dozens of examples of far older and far far far less popular franchises getting turned into rides and lands and no one fusses about it. Edited November 7, 2011 by Wes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
televisedconfession Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 there's literally dozens of examples of far older and far far far less popular franchises getting turned into rides and lands and no one fusses about it. Because we all know that Jurassic Park is still wildly popular with the kids now-a-days! And don't forget the lasting power of Duddly Do-Right. I mean, it's literally on TV all the time! I think the interesting thing about more Potter Parks, is to see new Potter themed rides. With the Orlando one, they just added one ride, and re-themed the rest of them around it. If you add new Potter Parks, they'll have to come up with more interesting ways to keep it interesting, because they won't have the uniqueness that comes with the IOA property anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Flux Capacitor! Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 I'm just hoping for one in the UK. The 'studio tour' that we've got in Levensden is a pale imitation imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Ug can we just stop with the same dumb "Will Harry Potter be popular?" argument for pete's sake, there's literally dozens of examples of far older and far far far less popular franchises getting turned into rides and lands and no one fusses about it. Agreed--I think the popularity of the Potter franchise, whether you love it or hate it, is pretty well established. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Clinksalot Posted November 7, 2011 Share Posted November 7, 2011 Agreed with Wes. Plus, Harry Potter is essentially the "Star Wars" or "Indiana Jones" of my kids generation. Those franchises aren't going anywhere either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jew Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 One thing worth noting: it was mentioned when Blackstone put their share of Universal Orlando up for sale how one of the terms of their licensing deal w/ WB was that Universal had to have controlling ownership of the parks or else they could lose their license. Currently the only properties Universal actually owns outright are the Hollywood and Orlando parks (Singapore is owned by Resorts World Sentosa & I believe Universal only has a small share of ownership left in USJ). Hmm.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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