The Portable Door: Release Date, Cast, Story Details, Trailer & Everything We Know

Based on the magical J.W. Wells and Co. novels, The Portable Door could be the beginning of a new fantasy film franchise in the vein of Harry Potter.

The Portable Door is a fantasy-adventure comedy film from Australia that is available to stream in America. Following a beleaguered intern who begins working at a magical London firm, the movie adapts the first installment in the seven-part J.W. Wells and Co. book series by English novelist Tom Holt. The novels are themselves inspired by The Sorcerer, an 1887 comic opera from Gilbert and Sullivan in which a young magician attempts to join the ranks of the prestigious London sorcery firm.

The Portable Door received a 91% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes with reviews calling it a worthy addition to the YA fantasy genre, favorably likening it to the Harry Potter franchise. Given that it follows a 23-year-old protagonist, the movie does not technically qualify as YA, but the comparison is understandable. It's another adaptation of an English book series depicting a whimsical world of magic and wizardry. When discussing the comparison, director Jeffrey Walker said (via Daily Mail), "Imagine Harry grew up, and he had to get a normal job at 23, and he had to figure out his life, and then he falls into his magic."

The Portable Door is currently available to stream on MGM Plus in the U.S., where it debuted on April 8, 2023. The movie's initial theatrical release in Australia took place on March 23, 2023, before it made its way to streaming on Stan Australia on April 7. That same date also saw The Portable Door debut in the UK, Ireland, Germany, and Italy via European distributor and co-producer Sky.

An adaptation of Tom Holt's novel was first announced in 2013 as a co-production of Story Bridge Films and The Jim Henson Company. Director Jeffrey Walker became attached in 2020, as did screenwriter Leon Ford. Walker is a former child actor who has directed for several popular TV series including Modern Family, Young Rock, and Fresh Off The Boat. Ford, who has written on several Australian series including Squinters and Offspring, is also a prominent actor, having appeared in numerous major Australian productions including Elvis, Rams, and God's Favorite Idiot.

The Portable Door features an impressive cast, with many critics singling out the memorable performances from Jurassic Park star Sam Neill as the dry-witted middle manager Dennis Tanner, and Inglourious Basterds star Christoph Waltz as the villainous CEO Humphrey Wells. The rest of the main cast is filled out by seasoned veterans and exciting newcomers, all of whom have made a name for themselves starring in literary adaptations. Patrick Gibson (Shadow and Bone) plays the protagonist, junior clerk Paul Carpenter. Sophie Wilde (Tom Jones) plays fellow clerk and love interest Sophie Pettingel. Miranda Otto of The Lord of the Rings plays Countess Judy, and Jessica de Gouw (Dracula) plays Rosie.

The Portable Door follows Paul Carpenter, a young, unremarkable graduate who finds himself working at the London firm J.W. Wells and Co., a magical corporation responsible for engineering coincidences and chance encounters. The company is led by the caustic, sharp-eyed Dennis Tanner and CEO Humphrey Wells, who are in the course of revolutionizing the magical world by introducing modern corporate practices. Behind the company's whimsical appearance, the ambitious capitalist Wells aims to use the company's "influence"-peddling to sinister ends.

Paul is partnered with another clerk, the fast-tracked, magically-gifted "empath" Sophie Pettingel. The two are forced into an adventure through the bureaucratic wizarding world after Wells tasks Paul with finding the titular portable door. The door, it seems, is a magic portal to anywhere, which can be summoned using an enchanted towel by the last person who closed it. When Paul's journeys reveal the dark secrets lurking within the ancient company, he is burdened with more responsibility than his role as an intern could have anticipated.

Unexpectedly for a film about a London-based sorcery firm, The Portable Door's production took place in Australia. Director Jeffrey Walker told the Daily Mail that the decision seemed a practical one due to the majority-Australian core crew of the film. The Australian government also reached a deal to co-finance the independent film as part of an initiative to revitalize the country's film industry post-Covid. The film was shot on the Gold Coast, Queensland, which has seen several Hollywood productions including Godzilla vs. Kong, Aquaman, and Elvis. Walker describes needing to spend a vast amount of time on a "pitch black set" in order to reproduce the gloomy look of London.

The first trailer for The Portable Door was released on February 1, 2023, boasting impressive production value. Co-producers and legendary visual effects studio The Jim Henson Company are behind the creature effects for the mysterious, gnarled monster hand that recurs in the trailer. The chemistry between romantic leads Patrick Gibson and Sophie Wilde is evident, along with a general sense of whimsy, which affirms the critics’ statements that The Portable Door possesses a Harry Potter-like charm.

The next book in Tom Holt's book series is In Your Dreams, in which Paul Carpenter receives a promotion from the higher-ups at J.W. Wells and Co., only to discover that "pest control" in the magical world is far more dangerous than he had imagined. The Portable Door features a post-credits scene that confirms that Paul will continue to work at the firm in a new position. Yet ultimately, the possibility of a sequel will be decided by the film's financial success. Available box office information shows a very modest theatrical opening for the film overseas (via Box Office Mojo). However, streaming numbers may tell a different story.