His name might not be that well known, but if there’s one man more responsible for the success of the Harry Potter movies than any other, it’s producer David Heyman. Over the last decade he’s been in charge of the franchise for Warner, steering it through different directors, allowing it to get ever darker in tone and generally assuring that despite there being eight movies, there’s never been a genuinely bad one.
Potter has essentially been his life for many years (there have been occasional forays elsewhere, but it’s mainly been Hogwarts), but with the series drawing to a close, he’s looking for new projects, and it appears he’d like to keep his hand in the fantasy game. Summit bought the rights to Erin Morgernstern’s book Night Circus back in January, and THR reports that Heyman is in talks to join the project as the main producer. The only question is whether they’ll be able to come to a deal, as Heyman is extremely hot right now and has a lot of options.
Night Circus ‘is set at the beginning of the 19th century, telling the story of two young magicians, pawns in an age-old rivalry between their mercurial, illusionist fathers, and the enchanted circus where their competition (and romances) play out. Fates of everyone involved, ­ from creators and performers to patrons, hang in the duos balance.’
It certainly sounds like the right sort of thing for the producer, although whether he could ever replicate the success of Potter is impossible to predict.