Scattered Harry Potter thoughts on a Wednesday morning
1) If they base it off of the books/wizarding world - Stern could potentially keep costs down to do their traditional Pro/Prem/LE model. The license may be expensive, but I haven't heard of HP being notoriously restrictive or difficult to work with. Books give you much more freedom, Warner Bros isn't in the picture, and you don't have to pay for expensive clips.
2) I would absolutely love the movie actors voices in this game. Picture a hand drawn style based on the book art and then get a few of the main characters to do voice work for the game. Could be a creative way to capture the magic while again working to keep costs down.
3) As a massive Harry Potter fan, I don't think Stern will deliver a WOZ or GNR atmosphere under the glass that it deserves. This sucks, but if it's a homerun theme with great rules and fun layout, that's all it will need to be a monster success. Hell, it will sell decent on theme alone, so most will settle for 2 of the 3.
4) I have no clue if they should do 1 machine, 3, 7... My gut tells me do 1 and just name it The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Or do a spinoff called "Harry Potter's Pinball Adventure" even though I know a lot of fans would throw up on that idea. The LEGO games did two, one for years 1-4 and then 5-7. I kind of like this idea, but it would come down to how Stern executes it. Unveil game 1 and tease game two coming in 18 months, or something to that effect?
IDK, I've rambled on enough.