…Sort of.
According to WENN, the awful 1980s movie Troll (which, believe it or not, was eclipsed by the even worse Troll 2) is set for a remake, and the producers of the remake intend to title the new film The Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter, featuring a boy wizard battling fantasy creatures.
Huh? How can they get away with that?
Well, if you’ve ever seen Troll you’ll know that the main character of the film, played by Noah Hathaway, is named… wait for it… Harry Potter, Jr. That’s right, even spelled the same as the boy wizard whose blockbuster success has made Warner Bros. and creator J.K. Rowling millions upon millions of dollars. Since Troll, a fantasy film that predates the first Potter book by over a decade, already used the name and similar concepts, film spokesman Ed Lozzi claims that the project is totally in the clear. He explains, “The original movie was conceived, written and directed by John Carl Buechler in 1986. The film chronicled the adventures of Harry Potter, Jr. after his sister Wendy is attacked and possessed by an evil wizard, posing as a troll in the Potter family’s new apartment complex. This film is not a continuation of J.K. Rowling’s intrepid boy wizard. It is about everybody’s other favourite boy with magical powers – Harry Potter Jr. – and his father Harry Potter.”
In fact, Lozzi goes as far to claim that the rights holders to Troll almost sued J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. over the Harry Potter character, claiming, “While some of the films’ themes might seem familiar, Troll’s owner decided not to sue J. K. Rowling or Warner Bros… because of a family tragedy at the time. They just put it on the back burner… and delayed matters until now. There is no problem with doing a remake of Troll because you can remake your own stuff. Everybody knows it was our material. We made the movie years before Rowling came out with her book.”
Let’s be honest — obviously the minds behind the Troll remake are naming the film for attention reasons, although it’s clear that no Harry Potter fans will be fooled by the knock-off. This reminds me of “mockbusters” like the straight-to-video Almighty Thor and Titanic 2, which are constantly churned out though to capitalize on more popular films despite never seeming to make much money. I’m sure some Potter fans are foaming at the mouth, but I don’t see much of a problem with this — it’ll probably be good for some laughs.
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