Daniel Radcliffe shoots down hopes of a 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child' movie 'right now'

Though it began as a finite series of seven books, the Harry Potter franchise today feels like something that could conceivably never end. Whether we're talking about theme park rides, video games, or more films set in the Wizarding World, there's always the potential for expansion. And that includes new stories starring the original cast of the films adapted from those first seven books. 

Potter fans got very excited last year when, during the 20th anniversary celebrations for the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone film, director Chris Columbus expressed interest in making a film version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Written by playwright Jack Thorne based on a story by original Potter creator J.K. Rowling, the play follows an adult Harry and his friends Ron and Hermione as they grapple with a new mystery surrounding Harry's son, Albus Severus Potter. Columbus, who directed the first two films in the series, saw a film version of the play as a perfect opportunity to reunite his three original stars, calling making the adaptation "a small fantasy of mine."

Though Columbus was excited by the idea, and fans also savored the possibility that their beloved stars would reunite for one more story, Harry Potter himself, Daniel Radcliffe, isn't into it, at least for the moment. Speaking to The New York Times to promote his new adventure film The Lost City, Radcliffe turned down the possibility of a Cursed Child movie in a fairly straightforward way. 

"This isn’t the answer that anybody’s going to want, but I think I was so able to go back and enjoy it [during the reunion special] because it’s not a part of my day-to-day life anymore," Radcliffe said. "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. I’m never going to say never, but the Star Wars guys had like 30, 40 years before they went back. For me, it’s only been 10. It’s not something I’m really interested in doing right now."

Though Cursed Child was a hit in both London's West End and during its Broadway debut, and would probably pull in plenty of interest as a feature film, it makes sense that Radcliffe's still more comfortable at a distance from Harry Potter at this point. Radcliffe and his co-stars Emma Watson and Rupert Grint have quite simply made it to a place in their careers where they can afford to choose projects they get excited about. For Radcliffe, that's meant daring projects like Swiss Army Man and Guns Akimbo, as well as fun supporting roles like The Lost City and, most recently, a biopic about Weird Al Yankovic in which he plays the legendary parody songwriter himself. 

"I could not be more excited for people to see it," Radcliffe said of the film, titled Weird. "I did one shot the other day and Al walked up to me afterward and was like, 'Is that the weirdest thing you’ve ever had to do?' I was like, 'It’s top two, with the only other one being Paul Dano riding me like a Jet Ski at the beginning of 'Swiss Army Man.'"

The Lost City is in theaters March 25.