J.K. Rowling and Jack Thorne's play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two has been getting great reviews in previews but will have its official opening night on July 30th. Since most Potterheads can't get themselves to the U.K. to see it, the book version will have to do. And they sure are hungry for more Harry Potter.
With fans gearing up for the tradition that is midnight release parties, Reuters reports, “Nine years after the publication of the seventh and last book in the best-selling boy wizard series, pre-orders for the script of a new, sold-out London play is the most pre-ordered book since 2007 in the United States, retail book sellers Barnes & Noble said on Monday.”
So which book did so well in 2007? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, of course. Barnes and Noble did not give sales figures but said the book was expected to be its biggest seller of 2016, and Amazon told Reuters Cursed Child has topped their U.S. pre-orders in print and on Kindle e-book for 2016.
And guess what? We'll do it all over again soon. The book being released at midnight parties is the Special Rehearsal Edition. The Definitive Edition of the script will be released in book form in early 2017 once the play has been finalized.
If you're still hoping to catch the play itself (and live in North America), keep your eyes peeled. The New York Post has a vague report that says:
They haven”t yet announced a Broadway engagement for “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” but New York theater people say it”s only a matter of time. Word is that [Sonia] Friedman and [Colin] Callender are in negotiations for a Shubert theater possibly for next season. They may hit Toronto first, however.