Fans were in for a shock today when Harry Potter star Matthew Lewis took to Twitter with some news that wasn’t exactly what it seemed. In what seemed like some astonishing news about an upcoming film, the actor tricked followers with news that, much to the disappointment of Harry Potter fans, turned out to be fake.

The actor is best known for playing Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter film franchise based around the works of author JK Rowling. Lewis, is a keen user of the social media platform, keeping his 1.43million followers up to date on what he has been up to with filming and, of course, his political views, in which he has been very vocal in the lead up to the UK General Election, which takes place next month.

His latest tweet announced that a new Harry Potter film, complete with its original cast would begin shooting next year causing a huge reaction from fans of the franchise. He also treated fans to a link within the tweet. This, however, was the point at which excited fans had their hopes dashed, with the link taking them straight to the UK Government website and to the Electoral Registration page, where the deadline to register is today. It seems that Lewis, a keen political commentator on Twitter, with his outspoken views against the Tory leadership and campaign is eager to ensure that as many as possible turn out to vote in the UK General Election on December 12th. And, with nearly half a million followers, many of whom may be young people, it seems that the actor is quite adept at making his point, while raising a smile as well as many hopes.

As would be expected, the tweet garnered huge attention, with over 14,000 likes and nearly 4,000 retweets in the short amount of time that it has been up. Though many were understandably dejected by the news that a new Harry Potter film was not indeed in the pipeline, most fans and followers took the tweet in good spirits, with plenty admitting that the actor had almost convinced them until clicking on the link. Lewis is one of many stars coming out to raise awareness, help alleviate political apathy and generate interest and turn-out, especially amongst young voters. Musicians such as Stormzy are putting their weight behind Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign, with actor and musician Riz Ahmed, known for his roles in Star Wars: Rogue One and The Night Of  joining them in his support for the Labour Leader.

With such huge fanbases, it is yet to be seen whether artists such as Lewis and Stormzy can help galvanize the youth vote, though with the reach that social media has it is obvious why stars such as Lewis are giving it their all. Harry Potter is arguably one of the most successful franchises, grossing over $7 billion since it began. Whether Lewis can transfer his magic from the screen to the election booths in the UK next month is yet to be seen.

As for a new Harry Potter movie, Warner Bros. does have Fantastic Beasts 3 in development, with filming expected to begin next year. There’s been speculation among fans about whether the original film franchise cast might return for a Cursed Child movie one day, but despite Lewis’ tweet, nothing is officially in the works. Still, fans will be able to return to the world of Harry Potter in 2021 with the release of Fantastic Beasts 3.

Source: Matthew Lewis/Twitter

  • Fantastic Beasts 3 Release Date: 2022-04-15