Magical story of Harry Potter

Joanne K. Rowling is going to publish "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child I and II," nine years after the publication of the prequel and seventh book, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." The Harry Potter series have sold 450 million copies, which is the second most to the Bible. Whenever a new Harry Potter book was published, the fans around the world would be enthused, and it is going to be the same this time as well.

In the last scene of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the Potter couple are seeing their children getting on the Hogwarts Express. This open ending seemed to indicate that the author would write a sequel some day. However, Rowling had written adult novels anonymously to avoid prejudice against a fantasy novel writer. Eventually, she decided to come back with Harry Potter as the fans have requested for sequels. The story of the new book takes place after Potter gets married to Weasley’s sister, not his best friend Hermione. The two have three children.

To be accurate, "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child" is not a novel, but a script for a play that will be open in West End, London, on July 30. Some castings are already determined, which is getting the fans excited. Potter will be played by English actor Jamie Parker while Hermione will be played by African-English actress Noma Dumezweni. Although the play has not even started yet, the tickets for one year have been already sold out. Illegal tickets are being traded for 3.85 million won per ticket. The reason for the publication of the script is that due to the limitations of the play genre, the number of the audience is limited to a small group at a time. The script is a kind of service for international fans who cannot come to London to see the play.

Rowling is not the only author of "Harry Potter and The Cursed Child." English screenwriter Jack Thorne and theater director John Tiffany are the co-authors. Tiffany received the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical with the romantic musical “Once.” "Let the Right One In," another play he directed, is being played in Korea. A once poor, divorced woman, Rowling, has been rolling in cash just with the Harry Potter series. She has earned more than a trillion won from royalties, movies, video games, character sales, and theme parks. From seeing her expanding to the play market, we can learn how great magical power a well-created story can have.

정성희기자 shchung@donga.com