Details have emerged about a possible Harry Potter parody song from Weird Al Yankovic. The parody musician whose work has received new appreciation thanks to the recent Roku Channel release of Weird: The Al Yankovic Story has been an industry favorite since the early 1980s. His style of releasing professional parody versions of ubiquitous pop songs has made him a favorite for four decades, leading to stints on film, television, and, ultimately, his own biopic starring Daniel Radcliffe. In addition to comedy versions of modern pop songs, Yankovic has also done parody songs involving blockbuster films, such as Jurassic Park, Star Wars, and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Yet, fans are finding out now, Yankovic could have tackled another popular franchise.
According to a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Weird Al had plans for a parody of a crucial Harry Potter song that Warner Bros. ultimately rejected. Yankovic explains that the parody, which would have added lyrics to the franchise theme 'Hedwig's Theme', was pitched to WB to get their blessing, only for the studio not to reply favorably. Read the full excerpt below:
Whenever it was, about a decade or two ago, I approached the movie company just to get a general blessing like, ‘Hey, I’d like to do a Harry Potter parody.’ And I think they said no, or they never responded or whatever. But sometimes when you’re dealing with franchises, and you ask permission, you know, there’s so many people that can say no, and they usually do.
Harry Potter's Franchise Future At WB Explained
Though the Harry Potter franchise may have been ripe for parody in 2002, the brand is currently in something of an artistic limbo with Warner Bros. While the adaptations of the seven initial Harry Potter books were immensely successful at the box office, the Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them spinoff series produced diminishing returns with every subsequent sequel. This year's installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, was a massive disappointment at the box office, and future plans for Potter sequels and spinoffs have been shuttered. Crucially, many of the young actors who jump started the franchise, such as Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, have established careers of their own away from Potter, despite returning for 2021's reunion special on HBO Max.
The uncertain future for the Potter films owes directly to its creator, J.K. Rowling, who has made news periodically in the last several years. Once regarded as the beacon of self-made authors, Rowling has been tampering with her own credibility with her views on transgender people and other minorities. It is a worldview that readers have since argued becomes clearer when delving deeper into the original books and finding unflattering portrayals of people of color. While problematic authors and creators have had their works adapted before, Rowling is still alive to manage her estate and perpetuating her own ideas, requiring a degree of delicacy.
This might explain Warner Bros.' reluctance to announce any more Harry Potter projects for the foreseeable future. New WBD CEO David Zaslav has simultaneously expressed a desire to continue making Potter films and announced that there are no current plans to do so. Making a concrete statement in any direction would run the risk of either promoting Rowling's controversial ideals or infuriating the holder of some of the company's most profitable IP. So, while Warner Bros' reluctance to grant Weird Al Yankovic permission to parody Harry Potter decades ago may seem cruel, it, along with their current actions, speaks to a company that is being extremely careful with how the world views their most popular characters.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
