Harry Potter is getting a TV reboot, set to release in 2027. Assuming it doesn't flop, I was thinking about this, and the fact that they might have to change the characters on a few rides if Universal was to keep their parks up-to-date.
And then I thought, well, they'd probably need to change the locations, too. The castle, Gringotts, and the Ministry are all based off of the movies.
That is, if they do change the locations. For merchandising purposes, they might not, and the poster I've seen with the silhouette looks to be that same castle we know and love.
Even then, would Universal even have the rights to the new show? Or would they have to acquire them? And if the show was as big a hit as the movies, would Universal change them?
Why would they spend millions of dollars updating attractions just because a new version of an IP is released. The Daniel Radcliff HP movies are still incredibly popular, and there's absolutely no guarantee the new HBO/Max version of HP will be nearly as popular as that original movies.
I could see if the WWoHP was struggling to attract guests or needed something new to juice interest, but that's not the case with Ministry of Magic proving to be just as popular as the first 2 WWoHP lands.
The only ride that I can think of that can actually do this is Star Tours (and MFSR at Galaxys Edge - soonish), for obvious reasons.
@fattyackin - TBF, all of the main character appearances throughout the WWoHP lands is through projections, so Universal could conceivably update these scenes to feature the new actors and staging. However, it just seems silly to do that, especially if the HBO series is going to feature very different looking sets and locations from the films, which are featured in almost exacting detail in all of the WWoHP lands.
As to your examples of Star Tours and MFSR, Disney designed those attractions with the ability to upgrade/update those rides to feature different locations and missions. The attractions at WWoHP all tell very linear stories within the HP universe, so it would take a major change in design to modify the way guests experience those rides.
@Russell: I completely agree. You just took the effort to explain in full what I was too lazy to explain myself lol. And for that I salute you sir
Unless a contractual stipulation is added in a future licensing renewal that requires Universal to update to the latest version of the property, I consider it highly unlikely anything will change about the Wizarding World lands. Everything is carefully designed to mesh within a specific adaptation of Harry Potter, and it would be obscenely expensive to overhaul six entire lands just to match a different adaptation that most likely will not have nearly the same impact the film series did. At most, we might see new merchandise options that tie in to the new series, but I'd guess Universal would probably retire usage of the IP before they'd spend a couple billion dollars redoing every iteration of the land.
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I do not think they will update the attractions - The attractions are popular and the movies are an all time classic.
MIB in Universal is still based on the original movie even though there are now Three of them. And of course the Third one was the Best..... (Using some CAPS just for you).
Spiderman was digitally enhanced but is still the same and is awesome.
Why change what is not Broke? And I am saying that in the least offensive way. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAH