Ding-dong, the muggle's profits are dead. Well, almost. Finally, after decades of bigoted writing and years of (very) public transphobic comments, Brontë Film and TV, the production company founded by J.K. Rowling and her business partner Neil Blair, has posted a significant drop in profits since the COVID-19 pandemic closed down theater performances of Harry Potter And The Cursed Child.Established in 2013, Brontë Film and TV was set up as a vehicle to develop and produce projects from the novels of J.K. Rowling/Robert Galbraith. As reported by Deadline, according to a UK Companies House filing, the company's pre-tax profit was £1.8M ($2.2M) in the 12 months preceding March 2022, compared with £6.9M ($8.5M) over the same period the year before, with its revenue halved to £8.8M ($10.9M). Furthermore, Brontë’s subsidiary, Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, reported revenue of £3.5M ($4.3M), down 65% compared with 2021, and a pre-tax profit of £1.1M ($1.4M), down 84%.The company’s earnings report blamed "lower income streams and profit shares from theatrical productions which were closed for a large part of the [financial] period due to COVID restrictions." But the 84% drop in profits cannot be entirely attributed to the impact of COVID as the show returned to Broadway during the 2022 fiscal year.
LGBTQ+ Allies Speculate 'Not Buying Her 'Sh*t' Worked
Ex-Potterheads, including many trans and queer allies, have speculated online that the reason for the production company's decreased earnings is the toxicity of the author, Brontë's majority shareholder. Many people also found it ironic, considering how much talking Rowling did online about how her "royalty cheques" help her sleep at night despite knowing the harm that her views cause.
"It's almost as if not buying her sh*t in solidarity with trans people against her bigotry... actually worked?" tweeted filmmaker and writer Jessie Earl about Rowling's lost profits.
"Sad thing is, she'll still be wealthy beyond imagining... but this is a welcome change," someone commented in response to Earl's original tweet. The tweeter then added, "I'm simply being realistic about the effect it will have. It will make it harder for her to do these things, but she'll be able to do them. Even if she stopped making money off HP right now, she's still rich enough that her grandkids will be well taken care of."
The Brontë Film and TV news comes after Rowling's most recent on-screen venture, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, failed at the box office, with many wondering whether the other sequel is dead in the water. That said, despite the impact on Rowling's production company's earnings, the Harry Potter series is still selling in record numbers. In 2022, Bloomsbury Publishing announced that book sales increased by 35% during the 25th anniversary year, meaning the author is likely rolling in money due to those "royalty cheques."