Dave Hogan/Getty ImagesChristmas came early for Harry Potter fans!
J.K. Rowling cast a spell on readers years ago, and now she's hoping to do the same with theatergoers. The author is developing a play about the titular character's life before he attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, she announced on Friday, Dec. 20.
In a statement, Rowling said the stage show will "explore the previously untold story of Harry's early years as an orphan and outcast." Rowling will co-produce the play, along with veteran British theater producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender.
Rowling will also collaborate with a writer but will not write the script herself. As of press time, the script writer and director have yet to be hired.
"Over the years I have received countless approaches about turning Harry Potter into a theatrical production, but Sonia and Colin's vision was the only one that really made sense to me, and which had the sensitivity, intensity and intimacy I thought appropriate for bringing Harry's story to the stage," Rowling, 48, said.
No opening date has been set for the show, which will be developed in Britain next year.
In September 2013, it was revealed that Rowling will be making her screenwriting debut with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the first in a new film series which is part of Warner Bros.' expanded creative partnership with the author.
"The films will be inspired by Harry Potter's Hogwarts textbook of the same name, and will feature the book's fictitious author, Newt Scamander," according to a statement on Rowling's Facebook page.
Rowling's seven Harry Potter novels have sold more than 450 million copies. They were adapted into eight feature films starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint.