Universal Destinations and Experiences is in the middle of a period of unprecedented Expansion. This year has already seen the opening of a brand new theme park with Epic Universe, and a new horror-themed installation in Las Vegas with Universal Horror Unleashed. Next year will see yet another theme park open with Universal Kids Resort in Texas, and a second Horror Unleashed location in Chicago is also in the planning stages. But even that’s not all, as Universal is getting ready to take over Europe with its first Universal Studios park opening in the UK.
When Universal Studios UK, as it is currently known, was officially confirmed, no specific lands or attractions were announced, but rumors indicated that several of the major IPs of the park had already been decided. The most interesting piece of that was that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, a franchise so key to Universal parks that there are three different lands in three different parks in Orlando, wouldn’t be part of the UK park. But a new rumor claims that may have already changed.
Rumor Claims, Universal, WB, and J.K. Rowling Have Come To A Deal On Harry Potter
The issue at hand was believed to be one surrounding rights. Universal has the rights to build themed entertainment attractions based on the Harry Potter movies in the U.S. Warner Bros.. But the studio that produced the films, retained those rights in Europe, and The Making of Harry Potter (part of the Warner Bros. Studio Tour) is only about 30 miles from the location of the new theme park.
While it seems that might have made a Wizarding World land in the UK park impossible, The Sun is now reporting (via an unnamed source) that all the parties involved have reached a deal regarding a Wizarding World. What's more, it claims Universal Creative has already begun work on attraction concepts of the upcoming theme park.
To be clear, these rumors should be taken with a grain of salt, or a pinch of Self Charmed Flour, or whatever else you have to hand. The rumor comes from an unverifiable source, and is coming from The Sun, which isn’t exactly a bastion of credibility.
Still, one has to believe that Universal wants to put Harry Potter in the park, and so there’s every reason to believe that negotiations have been happening. Even if a deal took so long to reach that the Wizarding World didn’t appear in the first phase of the park, it could still be part of a later expansion.
If Harry Potter Is In, Who’s Out?
If this rumor is true, and the Wizarding World will be part of the initial park, then the next question becomes, what will it replace? The initial list of franchises in the park included James Bond, Paddington, The Lord of the Rings, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park, and Minions. That’s a pretty full park, and it seems likely that whatever was initially planned, Harry Potter will be replacing something else. We’ll likely never know (at least officially) what that was, but fans of other franchises will certainly be waiting to here what’s in the final park to see what made the cut.
Universal Studios UK is reportedly eyeing a 2031 opening date. By then, the new Harry Potter TV series will, assuming its success, be multiple seasons in, and there's a good chance the fandom will be riding very high.
