VOLDEMORT and Draco Malfoy may have failed to foil him – but now Harry Potter has a new, more powerful enemy: puberty.
Photos taken this week show that Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) have developed – seemingly overnight, especially in the now curvy Emma’s case – into a startlingly mature-looking threesome.
When the Potter franchise started filming over two years ago, the actors – 11-year-old Daniel and Emma, and 12-year-old Rupert – were roughly the age of the first-year Hogwarts students of J.K. Rowling’s first book.
These days, 13-year-old Daniel looks as if he’s ready to trade his Nimbus 2000 broomstick for a Nissan 350Z – and that Harry’s next close shave may with a Bic.
And Emma looks distinctly more Britney than bookworm.
Little wonder why director Chris Columbus, who helmed the first two Harry Potter films – the second, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” opens Nov. 15 – predicts the teenage trio will probably call it quits after the third installment, which starts filming early next year.
In all, seven novels – and their big-screen versions – are planned.
“If I were a betting man,” he told Reuters this week, “I’d say they’ll probably stop after three.”
Warner Brothers had no comment – though industry experts say Columbus, who’s himself surrendered the directing reins for now – is probably right.
“There’s only one illusion the movies can’t create – and that’s making kids stay the same age in the years when they’re developing the most quickly,” says Paul Dergarabedian, of the box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations.
“It’s something hard to fight against, even with special effects.”
While a midstream cast change would be unprecedented, Dergarabedian says – both the “Home Alone” and “Karate Kid” sequels, he points out, substituted new characters when the originals outgrew their roles – it probably wouldn’t hurt the fiendishly popular Potter franchise.
Nor would a well-publicized talent search for Harry, Hermione and Ron No. 2. (Opticians, start churning out those glasses.)
“It’s the characters that matter – the characters that kids know from the books,” says Aris Christofides, editor of Critics.com.
“Replace the actors and the characters remain the same. Kids won’t mind.”