(Image source: Baltimore Sun)

BY BRICE SANDERS

Hogwarts is coming to Hollywood. No-- not another Harry Potter movie- but Universal does plan to open a second Harry Potter theme park. MSNBC explains the expansion.

“They’re going to spend several hundred million dollars inside its existing Hollywood theme park. Officials say the attraction’s going to create more than 1,000 jobs at Universal and, perhaps even indirectly, they’re going to get a boost from tourism as well. As you know, there is already the Orlando, Florida version- the Wizarding World of Harry Potter- and that’s going to get an expansion because, since it opened in June last year, Chris, its attendance has jumped by about 50%, so it looks like it’s going to be a wizarding money-maker.”
 

NPR suggests the move is all about the money.
 

BEN BERGMAN: “Universal wants the same magic in LA, and so does LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who’s hoping Harry’s wand can bring real economic benefit.”
ZEV YAROSLAVSKY: “I see a possibility of the wand being used to produce $13 billion for the state budget, governor. And throw in a few million for the county as well so we can get out of this morass we’re in.”
 

But as LA Weekly points out, government and Universal officials may be overselling the immediate economic impact.
 

“So will Harry solve L.A.’s unemployment problem? Not even with a magic wand. The place isn’t expected to open until at least 2015.”
 

And Entertainment Weekly wonders if the franchise will lose its magic in the four years it’ll take to build the park.
 

“Is the Potter franchise big enough to support two separate parks? And can a franchise with a fundamental endpoint ever be as big as the Disney theme park global empire?”
 

Details on the new park are scarce- the only confirmed attraction is the Hogwarts castle, which will most likely replace the Terminator 2:3D experience.