There is mixed news for JK Rowling fans with Harry Potter and the Cursed Child set to open in Australia, but only on a Melbourne stage.

The play, the eighth instalment in the popular book series, premiered on London’s West End last year and will open exclusively at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre in 2019 following a run on Broadway next year.

“When we embarked on this journey, it was an objective to ensure we could get the production to Australia as soon as logistically possible,”producers Sonia Friedman and Colin Callender said.

You can’t ever assume a new play is going to have a further life, but we knew that if Harry Potter and the Cursed Child did have a life beyond London and Broadway, that the next stop would be here,”  they said.

“The Harry Potter stories have millions of fans across the globe, and so we’re very happy and proud that we’re able to bring our beautiful production to Australia, where we know a whole new audience will experience the eighth story.”

Melbourne is a fantastic city with such wonderful culture and heritage, and so we’re thrilled that the gorgeous Princess Theatre will be Cursed Child’s next home.”

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was written exclusively for the stage by the Harry Potter author Rowling, along with Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, and takes up with Potter as a father-of-three and employee at the Ministry of Magic.

The two-part stage play, designed to be seen in one day with a matinee and evening performance or on two consecutive nights, is the most awarded production in the history of Britain’s Olivier Awards, winning nine awards.

Performance dates and ticketing details will be announced soon.

-AAP