“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” released a new trailer Wednesday, as part of a new advertising campaign for the Broadway show and an expansion to other productions worldwide.
The production, which has been playing the refurbished Lyric Theatre on Broadway since March 2018, launched the new ad campaign in September with a takeover of billboards in Times Square. The new campaign ties the production more closely to the film and J.K. Rowling’s book series, with a change in font for the title, both on the marquee and in other marketing, that resembles the other Harry Potter brands, as well as footage in the trailer that hearkens that imagery.
The campaign comes as “Harry Potter” marks about one-year-and-a-half on Broadway. While the production garnered six Tony Awards in 2018, including best play, and regularly grosses above $1 million, its average ticket prices on Broadway have been sliding. The ticket average for the two-part play stood at $77.17 in the week ended Oct. 6, in comparison to averages in the $150 range earlier in the run.
As Forbes previously reported, this resulted in a drop in overall revenue potential, while attendance for the production has remained high.
The production was capitalized for up to $35.5 million on Broadway, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
“Harry Potter” also has productions running at the Palace Theatre in London, where it began in July 2016 and a production at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne. It has a production set to begin in San Francisco next month, as well as a German premiere, with the text translated to German, in the spring of 2020 and a Canadian premiere at the Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto in fall of 2020.
