'Gone Girl' Director David Fincher Provides Update On What Direction Warner Bros. Plans To Take Its 'Harry Potter' TV Series
David Fincher, the director of Gone Girl, Fight Club, and Mindhunter, revealed he was contacted by Warner Bros. about its upcoming Harry Potter TV series and revealed what the producers had in mind for the show.
Speaking to Variety, Fincher said, “I was asked to come in and talk to them about how I would do Harry Potter. I remember saying, ‘I just don’t want to do the clean Hollywood version of it. I want to do something that looks a lot more like ‘Withnail and I,’ and I want it to be kind of creepy.’”
However, he noted that Warner Bros. was not interested in this pitch, but was looking for something more traditional, “They were like, ‘We want Tom Brown’s Schooldays by way of Oliver.”
Tom Brown’s Schooldays is a novel by Thomas Hughes that has been adapted to both film and television. The novel follows Tom Brown in his early childhood in the United Kingdom and his early years in school before he transfers to a Rugby School and has to deal with his nemesis and bully Flashman while also becoming the protector of George Arthur and learning to become a gentleman.
The book was adapted into a film back in 1940 by Robert Stevensen and then in 1951 by Gordon Parry. There have also been various TV adaptation including one in 1971 and more recently a TV movie in 2005.
While it is refreshing to hear from Fincher that Warner Bros. is wanting a more traditional adaptation for its TV series, it’s unclear how traditional it will be given a rumor at the beginning of December claimed that the studio was looking to race swap Severus Snape with actor Paapa Essiedu.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Borys Kit and James Hibberd report that actor Paapa Essiedu “has been offered the part [of Severus Snape] although it is not clear if negotiations have begun in earnest.”
In J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone book, she describes Snape, “Professor Quirrel, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.” When Harry asked Percy who the teacher was, Percy replied, “No wonder he’s looking so nervous, that’s Professor Snape.”
Elsewhere in the novel, she describes him, “As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped -- then Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore’s smiling face.”
Furthermore, J.K. Rowling shared a drawing of Snape in the 10th anniversary Collector’s Edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, where he’s depicted as a white man.
She wrote, “Snape as I always saw him. This was scribbled back in 1992 or 3. Although I have spent years denying that Snape is a vampire (one of the more outlandish and persistent fan theories), I must say he does look a little like Count Dracula-ish in that cloak.”
On top of that, Warner Bros. released merchandise and artwork of Snape before Alan Rickman had been cast as the character. He was depicted as white.
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On top of this rumor about Essiedu playing Snape, a Casting Call for Harry, Hermione, and Ron noted that Warner Bros. was “committed to inclusive, diverse casting. For every role, please submit qualified performers, without regard to ethnicity, sex, disability, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other basis protected by law unless otherwise specifically indicated.”
J.K. Rowling also approved of and defended the race swapping of Hermione in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play when it cast Noma Dumezweni in the role.
Rowling defended the decision telling The Guardian, “With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiot. But what can you say? That’s the way the world is. Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job. When John told me he’d cast her, I said, ‘Oh, that’s fabulous’ because I’d seen her in a workshop and she was fabulous.”
Nevertheless, when the show was initially announced Warner Bros. promised that the series would be authentic to the original novels.
A press release stated, “The stories from each of Rowling’s Harry Potter books will become a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five years.”
“Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally,” it explained.
J.K. Rowling even noted at the time, “Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series.”
What do you make of Fincher’s comments about the Harry Potter TV series?
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