Unofficial ‘Harry Potter’ Fan Movie Approved By Warner Bros., A Hit On YouTube

An unofficial Harry Potter fan film has made its way to YouTube, and people are loving it.

“As fan films go, I was bit [sic] skeptical at first. But, I have to say, I was actually surprised with the output,” wrote YouTube user pawan madhur. Others commented with hearts and straightforward commendations like, “Good job!”

Called Voldemort: Origins of the Heir, the 52-minute video follows the early life of Harry Potter villain Voldemort, supplying a backstory that author JK Rowling alluded to throughout her famous book series. Warner Bros. approved the fan film, hence its current place on YouTube, where it already has over 6.3 million views since it was uploaded to the video platform on January 13. You can watch the full movie here:

Tryangle Films produced the flick. The Italy-based now-burgeoning production house utilized Italian locations and crew for the shoots. The movie was shot in Italian, but it’s been dubbed into English and subtitled into a handful of other languages. Gianmaria Pezzato is listed as the film’s director, writer, and editor, while Stefano Prestia is credited as the executive producer. Stefano Rossi plays the lead, Tom Marvolo Riddle (aka young Voldemort), while Davide Ellena plays the grownup Lord Voldemort.

Funded in part through Kickstarter, the film had to cease its funding efforts on the platform mid-production. This came after Warner Bros. got in touch with the creators to tell them they had to stop what they were doing—unless they agreed to make the movie available free of charge, reported the Independent. If you look for the movie’s Kickstarter page now, you’ll find a letter from Warner Bros. addressed to the Brooklyn-based crowdfunding platform saying that “Warner Bros. is the exclusive owner and/or licensee of copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property rights in and to the Harry Potter series of books and motion pictures.”

“We have discussed it with the users who have agreed to remove the project from the site and have requested that we send this notice so that the project is removed,” the note to Kickstarter continues. Lucky for the filmmakers and Harry Potter fans alike, Warner Bros. changed its tune and ultimately allowed the film’s free release on YouTube.

This isn’t the first Harry Potter fan video to appear on YouTube, though it appears to be the first that provoked backlash from Warner Bros. Harry Potter and the Ten Years Later depicts Harry living a lackluster adult life until he discovers that his best friend Ron Weasley has gone missing. And let’s not forget the beloved Potter Puppet Pals. Perhaps these examples mark the difference between fan fiction and fans creating content based directly off of JK Rowling’s original work, which the Voldemort origin story seems to do.