Excellent news, Harry Potter fans: The script for the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child stage play will be published in book form right after the play premieres.
The official eighth Harry Potter story, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, is opening in London in July.
The play, while hotly anticipated, has also been criticized for excluding all Potter fans not actually able to go to London to see it live… but worry not: An official book containing the script is coming sooner rather than later!
J.K. Rowling’s team has announced a “Special Rehearsal Edition” of the script book, which can be yours when the play opens this summer.
Pottermore will publish the Special Rehearsal Edition of the Cursed Child script, and it’ll be available in both print and eBook formats on July 31, 2016. The digital version is priced at $14.99 and the physical version — at least on Amazon — costs $29.99. We’re guessing the price of the latter version will come down as we get closer to the release. Pre-order the digital version or the physical version now!
The Special Rehearsal Edition of the script book will later be replaced by a Definitive Collector’s Edition.
“Pottermore is proud to be a key part of the multi-platform effort that will allow the epic eighth Harry Potter story to be read and enjoyed by a wider, global audience,” says Susan L. Jurevics, Chief Executive Officer of Pottermore, in a statement. “With the script eBook of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child helping to lead the way, 2016 will be one of our most exciting years yet. We have other innovative content initiatives coming soon that will also thrill and engage our vast global audience of Wizarding World fans as well as create new ones.”
If you’re in the U.K., you can already pre-order the Special Rehearsal Edition of the Official Script Book from Waterstones, with a half-off discount!
And the good news doesn’t end here: In 2017, a new version of Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is being released, “with new content by J.K. Rowling.” It’s probably not Newt’s complete story, but it’s something.
Aside from Fantastic Beasts, there’ll also be new formats and editions of Quidditch Through the Ages and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
We’re also learning today that the second book in the Illustrated Edition series, Chamber of Secrets, will be published this October.
Finally, as next year marks the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, yet another edition of the Potter series is being released. This one comes in four versions: one for each of the four Hogwarts houses! That’s right, that elusive Hufflepuff cover can be yours at last.
Update: Listen to the latest episode of MuggleCast in which we discuss all of this news!
Is this good news or what?! We’re definitely very happy here at Hypable, seeing as our fearless leader Andrew penned a passionate open letter asking for the Cursed Child story to be made available to all fans.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child opens on the London West End on Saturday, July 30. Previews begin one month earlier. The two-part play is based on an original new story written by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany.
Here’s the official synopsis for Cursed Child:
It was always difficult being Harry Potter and it isn’t much easier now that he is an overworked employee of the Ministry of Magic, a husband, and father of three school-age children.
While Harry grapples with a past that refuses to stay where it belongs, his youngest son Albus must struggle with the weight of a family legacy he never wanted. As past and present fuse ominously, both father and son learn the uncomfortable truth: sometimes darkness comes from unexpected places.
Related: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child casts its Harry, Ron, and Hermione (Updated)