LA County approves Harry Potter expansion at Universal Studios Hollywood

I've never seen a Potter movie or read a book, but I thought the area was great just for the level of detail. If Harry Potter was just a mascot made up for that ride I still think it was a success.

Now if Universal could do something about the Fievel land. Talk about a license that no one has heard of...

Star Wars is no longer "done" now that Disney owns it. I can't wait to see what JJ Abrams does with it.

Not to totally get off topic, but Jeff, me neither. And the latest rumor is three stand alone films and three sequels. Starting next year, a movie a year. I'm "geeking" out.

wahoo skipper said:
JK Rowling is still relatively young. I know she has said that the Potter franchise is done but if her other book ideas fall flat (as one already has apparently) then I wouldn't be surprised if she returned to the saga and either did some prequels or some sequels.

That would be if she even cares. I haven't read her latest, but if it did fall flat, so what, huh? She's got f-you money, Oprah money. If she never sets pen to paper again she'll be fine and the rest of the world will be left to rely on fan fiction for their prequels and sequels. (which, if I were her is exactly how I would do it- stick to my word and let it stand)

I love Vater's comparison to Paramount. I would groan whenever they would introduce a new ride or land, because the theme would always seem so lame and temporary. The ride itself may have been just fine, but I couldn't help but wonder how many times down the road the outdated, irrelevant theme would have to be stripped from the hardware and re-done as a cheap way to add something 'new' and promote the latest from Paramount.

This is different. Harry Potter, like Peanuts and Star Wars, will endure and be remembered by fans for years and years. The detail and thrill factor will be enough to satisfy the casual participant as well as the hard core fan and the heavy investment will continue to pay off. I took a friend to Disney and one of his favorite rides the whole trip was Star Tours. While I think the "Kleenex box" simulator is ok and fun enough, he giggled, laughed and reacted to the ride a lot differently than I did. Turns out he's immersed in Star Wars, and recognized all the scenes and got all the references.

Universal is smart. From HP London to projects at other parks, we're looking at many years down the road. They must be fairly confident that HP isn't going belly up any time soon.

It's not a rumor, it's announced. The sequels will be on odd years, stand-alone side stories in the even years.

Excellent.

With everything J.J. Abrams has on his plate lately, it might be a while before he gets around to that Alias movie.