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Movie Odds: Will Voldemort: Origins of the Heir Come to Life?

Don Aguero

by Don Aguero in Entertainment

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

HP Fan Art: a dementor
Photo credit: I Kobe [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was the latest installment in the Harry Potter franchise. That spin-off series will take on a life of its own, with four more movies scheduled over the coming years. It’s to be expected. Fantastic Beasts was a box-office hit, raking in $814 million and ending 2016 as the eighth-highest grossing film.

But one universe-expanding series isn’t enough for some Potter fans, and they’re taking matters into their own hands with Voldemort: Origins of the Heir.

Recently, the first trailer came out for the fan-made feature film, which purports to explore the origins of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It’s a similar premise to Star Wars Episode 1, which delved into the origin story of Darth Vader. This time, curious fans will learn what drove Tom Riddle to become Lord Voldemort. 

 

 

While the trailer looks promising — and has stunningly high production value for a fan-made film — there are still a lot of obstacles to overcome before eager Potter fans get to return to Hogwarts. Will the film be released? If so, when? And what will be revealed? Let’s make a few educated guesses and set the odds based on everything we know so far.


Voldemort: Origins of the Heir Odds

ODDS THE FILM IS EVER RELEASED: 9/11

The project was initially met with fierce opposition from Warner Bros. and the crowdfunding project was canceled due to copyright violations. The production company, Tryangle Films, has since reached an agreement with Warner Bros. and plans to release the film on Youtube as a not-for-profit venture.

ODDS THE FILM IS RELEASED …

  • on Youtube: 1/3
  • on another streaming service: 4/1
  • in theatres: 19/1

As mentioned, the filmmakers intend to release the film on Youtube at the moment, and that seems like a good fit. Youtube is looking to expand its paid streaming service and a Potter spin-off would be a great way to get it off the ground. That said, no concrete plans are in place and this is a pretty novel undertaking with little precedent. 

Other streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon may also be interested. Netflix is the most likely of the three to pick it up; original content is becoming a larger part of its business model.

We can’t rule out the big-screen, but it seems the creators are looking to go an alternate route.

O/U ON RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2018

The makers announced on Facebook that they plan to release the film by the end of 2017. So far, they’ve got the cast worked out and evidently enough footage for a teaser, but we don’t know much more than that. Finishing the film by year-end seems like an overly ambitious target.

ODDS THE PLOT WILL EXPLORE/FEATURE …

  • what drove Tom Riddle to become Voldemort: 1/10
  • the origins of the Death Eaters: 1/2
  • the origins of the Horcruxes: 3/1
  • Tom Riddle’s introduction to Dumbledore: 5/1
  • Tom Riddle’s introduction to Lucius Malfoy: 6/1
  • Tom Riddle’s introduction to Hagrid: 6/1
  • what happened to Voldemort’s nose: 25/1

J.K Rowling left Voldemort’s backstory wide open, so there’s a lot to be explored here. Tom Riddle was a handsome, charismatic wizard. What drove him to become Lord Voldemort? No one knows … yet.

We know that Riddle is half-muggle, but we don’t know what inspired his hatred of mud-bloods. The film will hopefully offer some answers for us. Also, how did the Death Eaters come to be? And whence the Horcruxes?

We may also meet some well-known characters in their youth. What’s Voldemort’s history with Dumbledore? How did he meet Lucius Malfoy? And we know he attended Hogwarts with Hagrid, what happened there?

There are a lot of stones to turn over. Those are just some of the more likely possibilities. 

What questions do you hope are answered in the new movie? Let us know in the comments, and feel free to add your best theory on Voldemort’s beginnings.

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