Is a film adaptation of Harry Potter & The Cursed Child in the works?

There's an adage that says any headline that ends with a question mark can simply be answered 'No.'

It's called Betteridge's law of headlines. It's usually correct and, technically speaking, it's correct here. We're getting off-topic from the very beginning, but we'll clarify. Earlier this week, Warner Bros. filed a trademark application for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the upcoming play set ninteen years after the events of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and follows an adult Harry, Hermione and Ron and Harry's son, Albus Severus Potter.

The trademark claim specifically includes "motion picture films featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation, and motion picture films for broadcast on television featuring comedy, drama, action, adventure and/or animation; audio video discs, and digital versatile discs featuring music, comedy, drama, action, adventure, and/or animation."

There's two interesting points to take away here. First off, Warner Bros. isn't involved in the theatre production of Cursed Child - so why bother to trademark the play unless they're planning on doing something with it? It's entirely possible that Warner Bros. are doing this to ensure nobody even makes a sideways attempt at taking the property off them, or it could mean that they're considering it. The other point is that Warner Bros. are already working on another Harry Potter-related series, namely Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. So, again, why do this?

There's no easy answer to either question and there likely won't be for some time. Brian Conroy, the solicitor who discovered the filings, made the very good point on his website that Warner Bros. has a total of five years to do something with the copyright. Not only that, they're not supposed to take out a copyright unless they specifically plan on do something with it.

For her part, JK Rowling has specifically stated that Harry Potter And The Cursed Child is a theatre play and only a theatre play. That's not to say that it couldn't be adapted into a feature-length film or even have the theatre production filmed and broadcast in cinemas, either.

The other question is whether or not people would actually want to see a film adaptation of the play? So, over to you - would you watch a film version of the play? Are you going to see the play?

Let us know in the comments!