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| Copyright Warner Bros. Used with permission from Freeform. |
It’s a sad day for fans of Freeform’s Harry Potter Weekend
events. For many years the cable network which is part of the ABC/Disney
networks has been the home for Harry Potter movies on basic cable. The TV
rights for the beloved fairy tale film franchise have gone back and forth
between ABC/Disney and HBO/Cinamax. Most of the time, though, the TV broadcast/cable
rights to the movies belonged to ABC/Disney, allowing Freeform (formerly ABC Family Channel) to
air Harry Potter Weekend events three to four times a year.
Part of what makes Freeform’s special Harry Potter events so
special is that they air editions of the movies that can’t be seen anywhere
else. Warner Bros. only released director’s cut editions of the first two movies,
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of
Secrets” on home video. None of the other six films in the series got director’s
cuts. Freeform presented special editions of all eight movies with deleted
scenes seamlessly edited into the films.
On August 9, NBCUniversal
announced that they had acquired the TV broadcast/cable rights to all eight of
the Harry Potter movies, plus the rights for the upcoming “Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them” film trilogy. This will make the movies available to air on
NBC, USA, and Syfy networks beginning July 1, 2018. NBCUniversal is owned by
Comcast. They also own the Wizarding World of Harry
Potter at Universal Orlando Resort, Universal Studios Hollywood, and
Universal Studios Japan.
The Fairy Blog contacted Liana C. Yamasaki of Disney/ABC
Television Group to find out the fate of Freeform’s Harry Potter Weekends. According to Ms. Yamasaki, "NBCUniversal
has an exclusive deal and Freeform will no longer air Harry
Potter after their window starts in 2018." That means that the
Harry Potter Weekends are coming to an end in summer of 2018.
Until then, Potterheads can still enjoy Harry Potter
Weekends for almost two years. Freeform has a Harry Potter Weekend event coming
up in September. Please click here for my post with the dates and complete
schedule.
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