FAN films pose a tricky problem for movie studios. On the one hand, they speak to, and feed, fans’ love for and connection to the studio’s franchises. On the other, they infringe upon extremely valuable copyrights. In the case of a forthcoming, unsanctioned “Harry Potter” prequel, however, it appears that Warner Bros has chosen not to stand in the way of its completion.

As reported by Polygon (via Slashfilm), Tryangle Films’ Gianmaria Pezzato and Stefano Prestia raised money through Kickstarter to fund their unauthorized “Harry Potter” project “Voldemort: Origins of the Heir,” which details the rise to evil power of the series’ noseless big bad guy. When their crowdfunding efforts drew the attention of Warner Bros, which holds the rights to the Potter franchise and is currently in the midst of making its own Fantastic Beasts-led prequel series, the campaign was suspended. However, Pezzato now reveals to Polygon that production is a go, saying a deal has been struck with the Hollywood studio that’ll allow them to finish their work:

“We had a private and confidential discussion with Warner Bros who contacted us during the period of the crowdfunding campaign,” Pezzato told Polygon. “The only thing we can say is that they let us proceed with the film, in a non-profit way, obviously.”

(SD-Agencies)