Daniel Radcliffe Weighs in on Possibly Reprising Harry Potter Role for Cursed Child Film

In 2016. J.K. Rowling invited fans back to Harry’s story in a sequel stage production entitled, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” That story takes place a generation after the original series of books and films, featuring adult versions of Harry, Hermione and Ron.

From the moment fans knew of its existence, they’d begun dreaming of a world where Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint would all return in a film adaption of that story, which focuses more on their children as they step into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Lauded in theatrical circles, the play and its published script are considered the eighth chapter of the Harry Potter saga, so it would make a wonderful post-script to the film series that dominated the 2000s.

Director Chris Columbus, who helmed the first two films in the franchise, “The Sorcerer’s Stone” and “The Chamber of Secrets,” recently opened up about his interest in stepping back into the robes to bring “Cursed Child” to the big screen.

“A version of ′Cursed Child’ with Dan, Rupert and Emma at the right age, it’s cinematic bliss. If you’re a film nerd or cinephile, it’s kind of like what J.J. [Abrams] did with ‘Star Wars,’” he told The Hollywood Reporter back in November, referring to Abrams bringing back OG stars Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Luke Hamill and Billy Dee Williams.

The trio recently reunited for a 20th anniversary special on HBO Max, which only further stoked the flames of hope and enthusiasm in the Potter fandom that perhaps a movie reunion could be in the cards.

In a new interview with The New York Times, though, Radcliffe pumped the brakes on that, admitting that “this isn’t the answer that anybody’s going to want.” But for now, returning to the role that made him famous is “not something I’m really interested in doing right now.”

He said that the fact that Potter wasn’t “day-to-day life anymore” made it something he was able to enjoy returning and visiting again. “I’m getting to a point where I feel like I made it out of ‘Potter’ OK and I’m really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life.”

The “Harry Potter” films were a cultural phenomenon for Radcliffe’s entire childhood and into his young adulthood, with him being mobbed by rabid fans everywhere he went. Now, more than ten years removed from the release of the eighth and final film, things have settled down somewhat for the film’s stars.

But fans needn’t give up hope of a return to the Wizarding World entirely as Radcliffe kept hope alive, with a nod to how “Star Wars” handled its revival. “I’m never going to say never,” he told NYT. “The ‘Star Wars’ guys had like 30, 40 years before they went back. For me, it’s only been 10.”

Right now, Radcliffe is 32 years old, while Watson is 31 and Grint is 33. The premise of “The Cursed Child” is that it takes place 19 years after the events of “The Deathly Hallows.” That would put the trio of characters in their late 30s, with young children of their own.

While it’s not feasible to necessarily do the story properly when Radcliffe, Watson and Grint are in their 60s and 70s, there’s nothing to say it couldn’t marinate another decade or so. That way fans won’t have to deal with that awkward aging-up makeup they all complained about at the end of “Deathly Hallows, Part 2,” anyway.

In the meantime, Radcliffe is keeping busy, working on an upcoming “Weird Al” Yankovic biopic for The Roku Channel, as well as starring alongside Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum in “The Lost City,” hitting theaters March 19.