After years of speculation, Warner Bros. Discovery has confirmed that a TV adaptation of the Harry Potter series is coming to Max, the new name of HBO Max and Discovery+. As much as we love the wizarding world, we’ve got a lot of questions about this TV reboot. The first being, why? But we’ll get to that in a bit as we break down everything we know about the upcoming Harry Potter TV series coming to Max.
What will the Harry Potter TV series be about?
Well, Harry Potter. Despite the rich world of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. is sticking to the original storyline that follows Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. According to the newly branded Max, the TV series will be based on all seven books by J.K. Rowling and the show will become a decade-long project for the studio.
“Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally,” said Max in a statement.
It’s no secret that the movie franchise had to cut a lot of material from the books to condense each novel into one movie. It looks like the TV series will fix that by adapting as much material as they can into the show. That means we might get to see the spells, characters, and creatures that were cut out of the movies, like pigwidgeons and house elves. We might even get the version of Dumbledore calmly asking Harry Potter if he put his name in the goblet of fire
The Harry Potter movie franchise is considered sacred to fans, so it’ll be interesting to see how the show attempts to appease the existing fanbase while attracting new viewers.
Who will star in the Harry Potter TV series?
The new series will be a complete reboot and Max plans to bring in a “new cast to lead a new generation of fandom.” It’s clear now that the intention of the Harry Potter series is to expand its fanbase to include younger fans as the kids that once loved the movies have aged up as well.
So, as expected, the new series will not feature the original cast. We might see them return in cameo roles, but that might be wishful thinking. Whether they’d want to return is the real question. After all, no one expected Warner Bros. to produce a reboot so soon after the cast bid the franchise farewell.
As for the new cast, they’ll have giant shoes to fill. Who could possibly live up to the legacies of Alan Rickman as Severus Snape or Robbie Coltrane as Rubens Hagrid? While the OG cast won’t return, some of the crew might. David Heyman, who executive-produced all eight Harry Potter films is in talks to executive-produce that TV series.
Is J.K. Rowling involved in the Harry Potter TV series?
Yes, she is. Despite Rowling’s messy controversy surrounding her transphobic views, the author of the Harry Potter series will be involved in the TV series moving forward. Fans of the Harry Potter series have largely turned against the author after her controversial comments on transgender people, and some aren’t happy that she’s still tied to the new show.
But there’s not much critics can do but complain as Rowling still controls her intellectual property. On the upcoming Max show, Rowling expressed that she’s glad the series format will “allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series.”
When will the Harry Potter TV series be released?
No word yet on the release, but if Warner Bros. Discovery just announced the show, then it might be years before they’re ready to release it. The Harry Potter TV series still has to undergo script approval, casting, pre-production, filming, post-production, and all the intensive in-between tasks that will be needed to bring a world as big as Harry Potter to the screen.
We’d wager that we won’t even see a trailer until 2025.
Why is Warner Bros. rebooting Harry Potter?
That’s the real question on everyone’s mind. Out of all the IP in Warner Bros. Discovery’s arsenal, why create a show for a story that’s already been told?
Warner Bros. Discovery has been undergoing major internal restructuring as the company is scrambling to find big-money tickets, so we weren’t all too surprised to hear of a Harry Potter series in the works. The eight film-franchise earned Warner Bros. over $7 billion worldwide, and that’s not even counting revenues from the Harry Potter theme park and the Fantastic Beasts movies. Harry Potter is a certified moneymaker, but a reboot is a whole other story.
Warner Bros. could have made a series on countless other stories in the Harry Potter universe, but by focusing on the central seven-book series, they’re sticking with the safe choice. As we mentioned before, the move is likely intended to widen Harry Potter’s reach to even more of the masses. It makes sense: There are already theme parks dedicated to the main Harry Potter storyline and the story is a guaranteed cash cow. But whether it’s the creatively smart choice is up for debate.
Because the real fear is not that the reboot will be bad—but if it will be boring. After all, it’s only been 12 years since the movie franchise ended.
What other shows could they have done instead of a Harry Potter reboot?
That’s not to say these might not be in the works. For all we know, Max and Warner Bros. Discovery are working on these in the background. But in case they aren’t, we’d certainly let them take our money if they created spin-offs for the following storylines.
- The Marauders - The misadventures of the messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, Prongs, aka Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter.
- Tales of the Beedle the Bard - The anthology-style fairy tales told in the wizarding world.
- The First Wizarding War - A prequel series on the first incarnation of Dumbledore’s Army.
- The Founders of Hogwarts - A medieval retelling of the four founders of Hogwarts and all the secrets they hid in the school.
* This story originally appeared on Esquiremag.ph. Minor edits have been made by the Preview.ph editors.
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