Credit: Warner Bros.It’s unlikely there will be another game this year that has been as explosive as the Harry Potter reboot Hogwarts Legacy (2023). Not only did the game get off to a rocky start with many fans condemning it for its affiliation with Wizarding World creator JK Rowling, but it also went on to become the biggest title of 2023 so far, breaking records before it even hit shelves.
But as well as being a Harry Potter reboot, Hogwarts Legacy also serves as a loose prequel to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1 (2010), and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 (2011), as well as the three spin-off films, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).
Related: Is Warner Bros. About to Announce Several New ‘Harry Potter’ Films?
Along with Simon Pegg (Phineas Nigellus Black) and Luke Youngblood (Everett Clopton), the Hogwarts Legacy cast includes Sebastian Croft and Amelia Gething (the main character/Fifth Year student), Lesley Nicol (Deputy Head Professor Matilda Weasley), Kandace Caine (Divination Professor Onai), Sohm Kapila (Astronomy Professor Satyavati Shah), Asif Ali (Ravenclaw student Mahendra Pehlwaan), and Jason Anthony (Nearly Headless Nick and the Sorting Hat).
It remains to be seen whether or not we’ll get a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy, but given its success so far, we’d bet our bottom Galleon on it happening. In fact, we’d be surprised if it stopped there. The game may be the big Wizarding World “reset” Warner Bros. has been looking for since the franchise started its decline with Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018), not to mention all the off-screen controversy.
Related: ‘Harry Potter’ Actress Defends JK Rowling Amid Prequel Controversy
In other words, it’s possible that Hogwarts Legacy will eventually be adapted to film. There has been a lot of back and forth on whether or not the London stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2016) will ever get the big-screen treatment, but we can’t see it happening — even if a number of Harry Potter actors have thrown their sorting hats in the ring to reprise their roles.
With the game taking place in the late 1800s, the opportunity could be ripe for Warner Bros. to take a leaf out of DC Studios’ book (which also happens to fall under their umbrella), and use the game — or at least a movie adaptation — to “reset” the Wizarding World. After all, the Fantastic Beasts series can quite easily be compared to most of the DC Universe installments — it’s mostly disappointing and inconsistent rubbish.
Related: Will Warner Bros. Use the Upcoming ‘Harry Potter’ Prequel to Reset the Franchise?
Hogwarts Legacy already serves as a loose prequel to the Harry Potter timeline, whether we’re talking about the book series or the film series. But with that said, a Harry Potter reboot based on the game wouldn’t need to follow its story entirely. In fact, it could see the return of some Harry Potter characters, who could use the Time-Turner to travel back through time to the late 1800s themselves! Sound a bit too far-fetched? Remember Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which involves a ton of time-travel, or Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, whose entire plot revolves around the same concept?
A Hogwarts Legacy movie could be the Wizarding World’s answer to DC’s upcoming film The Flash (2023), which sees the titular superhero “breaking the universe”, thus paving the way for a new continuity of films and television shows. Does Harry Potter also need breaking in the same way so that it can be put back together again? Only time will tell.
Fortunately, though, there is a Harry Potter television series finally in the works for HBO Max.
Check out the official cinematic trailer for Hogwarts Legacy below:
Related: 12 Major Deaths In the ‘Harry Potter’ Movies Ranked
As per the official Hogwarts Legacy website, here’s the synopsis for the game:
Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, open-world action RPG set in the world first introduced in the Harry Potter books. For the first time, experience Hogwarts in the 1800s. Your character is a student who holds the key to an ancient secret that threatens to tear the wizarding world apart. Now you can take control of the action and be at the center of your own adventure in the wizarding world. Your legacy is what you make of it.
Related: ‘Harry Potter’ Star Discusses Reboot and Recasting as Wizarding World Collapses
PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series versions of Hogwarts Legacy are on sale now.
Would you like to see a Hogwarts Legacy movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!