While J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter Series, she isn’t the owner of all of its ventures like the movies, video games, and theme parks. Instead, various multimedia outlets own the rights to produce and distribute the books, movies, and video games.
However, there is only one exclusive owner of the popular Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks. Because Harry Potter has expanded far beyond its original seven books, you may be wondering who owns each entity in the Harry Potter world.
Although J.K. Rowling owns the intellectual property, there is no one owner of the Harry Potter world. While Universal owns the theme parks, several companies own the distribution rights for publishing, the films, and the video games.
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Who Owns the Wizarding World of Harry Potter?
There are four operating theme parks called the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, but you may only be familiar with the ones at Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood. The remaining two parks are located in Osaka, Japan, and Beijing, China.
As the name implies, Universal Studios holds the rights to all four operating theme parks. The contract’s initial term was set to renew after 10 years, occurring in the summer of 2019.
This marked the beginning of two renewal terms, with the first ending in the summer of 2024, and the second ending in the summer of 2029.
The chain of theme parks is the latest branch of the Harry Potter Universe since the Universal Studios Orlando Park first opened on June 18th, 2010, roughly 13 years after Sorcerer’s Stone was published and almost nine years after the first movie and video game.
Will Disney Ever Own The Wizarding World of Harry Potter?
When you think of theme parks, Disney is probably the first that comes to mind. Believe it or not, Disney nearly ended up owning the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
The negotiation period occurred in the early 2000s when they came close to signing a deal with Rowling. Disney wanted to put the Harry Potter theme into their Magic Kingdom Park, but the two sides were at odds with the idea.
The issue? Rowling wanted the park to be on a much larger scale instead of an add-on to an existing park. Disney proposed a pair of rides plus a restaurant, so the overall theme was rather minimal.
However, just because Disney did not reach a deal with Rowling in the past, it doesn’t mean Universal can’t sell the Wizarding World theme park to them in the future.
But if Disney were serious about this possibility, they would not only need to make a lucrative offer to Rowling, but Universal Studios would also need to accept it. Therefore, you can anticipate Universal Studios owning the park for the foreseeable future.
Who Owns the Harry Potter Movies?
Warner Bros. Entertainment owns the Harry Potter movies, and they have since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
One way you can tell that Warner Bros. owns the movies is that the logo appears before each film. As you progress through the eight original movies, the logo becomes darker and danker, giving us a visual that each subsequent film in the series gets darker.
There are also three movies to date in the Fantastic Beasts Series, and Warner Bros. also owns them.
Warner Bros. is a branch of AT&T’s WarnerMedia, which also owns HBO Max, recently known as Max. This is why you will see Harry Potter-related content on Max that will also include the upcoming Harry Potter TV Series.
Who Owns the Harry Potter Video Games?
The Harry Potter games have been around since 2001, debuting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Lego Creator: Harry Potter. Just like the movies, WarnerMedia also owns the games, but its branch, Warner Bros.Games, is the owner under its label, Portkey Games.
![Evolution of Harry Potter Games [2001-2023]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3TDaL5tjBwM/0.jpg)
However, Portkey Games does not develop the video games. Instead, this label has worked with over a dozen developers over the previous two decades. Some of these developers are Superscape, Argonaut Games, and KnowWonder.
Most recently, Warner Bros Games brought on Avalanche Games to create the popular Hogwarts Legacy, released in early 2023. However, Unbroken Studios will developHarry Potter: Quidditch Champions, a sports-themed game with a To-Be-Determined release date.
Does J.K. Rowling Still Own Harry Potter?
While Universal Studios owns the theme park and Warner Bros. has the rights to the films and video games, J.K. Rowling still exclusively owns intellectual property rights. However, when it comes to publishing rights, things get a little complicated.
Since Harry Potter is published worldwide, different publishing companies hold publishing rights.
If you’re like me, and you first came across Harry Potter at a book fair over two decades ago, you may remember seeing the Scholastic logo at the bottom-left portion of the book.
Scholastic still owns the rights to publish and distribute the books in the United States, but Bloomsbury continues to own the rights in the United Kingdom.
Harry Potter Ownership
No one entity completely owns the Harry Potter world, although J.K. Rowling owns all intellectual property rights.
Universal Studios owns The Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme parks, and they have four parks worldwide to date.
Warner Bros. first purchased the rights to the films and games roughly a year after Scholastic and Bloomsbury published Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
While Warner Bros. Games owns the video games, they outsource development to different companies, like Avalanche. Warner Bros. Games also operates under the label Portkey Games for all Harry Potter-related content.
Sion Fawkes has been covering Star Wars since January 2022, expanding his expertise in Star Wars Canon, Legends, and MCU. When not writing, you can find Sion in the gym or running trails. He also likes watching sports and listening to audiobooks.