At its Max streaming event, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed a new era is coming for Harry Potter fans. The company announced a TV series based on all seven books about the boy wizard written by J.K. Rowling. See below for the most current answers to the most important questions about the project.
What is the Harry Potter TV series about?
“This new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years,” said Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content about the project, which he also assured fans would be “a faithful adaptation.”
Early reports had each season of the series focusing on one book in the Harry Potter book series, which consists of seven novels, but Bloys said the project would run for “10 consecutive years,” which would seem to defy the 1 season, 1 book assertion. For those of you who say Fantastic Beasts could be leveraged to provide 10 seasons over 10 years, WBD brass said specifically during the announcement that FB will not be a part of the series.
Whatever the case, Bloys promised that, as the company embarks on its new Harry Potter adventure, “We do so with the full care and craft of this franchise.”
When will the Harry Potter series be released?
The series is expected to be on air in 2025/26, and given that Warner Bros. Discovery is embarking on a high-profile revamp of its streaming service, even changing its name from HBO Max to just Max, it’s a pretty good bet the company wants Harry Potter wizarding on the platform ASAP. Ditto J.K. Rowling, whose production company posted a 74% drop in profits last year.
Which actors are starring in the Harry Potter TV series? Are any of the original Harry Potter stars returning?
There will be new actors playing the series’ main characters, but it’s unlikely anyone has been cast yet. In fact, Max’s search right now is centered on finding a showrunner.
“We have been trying to be very close to the vest,” said Bloys. “We haven’t gone out to agencies. We have our own internal process where we’ve been thinking about people but we have not wanted to go out into the world. Now that the news is out there…we’ll start going out to the business.”
As for a return of any of the film franchise’s stars — like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson or Rupert Grint — never say never. It would certainly be a PR boost for the series and, while new actors will be cast in the primary roles, there are always flashforwards or the currently en vogue multiverse plot ploy that could create space for more familiar faces in the series.
Will J.K. Rowling be involved in the new Harry Potter TV series?
A deal for J.K. Rowling’s involvement in the series had been the biggest hurdle in its path to the screen: The author has creative control over any exploitation of her work. That agreement has now been finalized.
Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts are exec producing. David Heyman, who developed the films, is currently in talks to do the same. Rowling’s Brontë Film and TV is producing with Warner Bros. Television. Brontë Film and TV was founded by Rowling and her literary agent, Neil Blair, in 2012.
“Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series,” said Rowling in a statement.
Since Warners launched its streaming service, there’s always been a goal to exploit Warners’ biggest franchise for streaming. Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav, taking the reigns after the merger last year, met with Rowling several times in the UK. He’s even spoken up in support of the author, who has been involved in an ongoing controversy over her comments on transgender issues. Asked about the streaming event about those controversies, Bloys demurred.
“No, I don’t think this is the forum [to discuss that],” he said. “That’s a very online conversation, very nuanced and complicated and not something we’re going to get into.”
“Our priority is what’s on the screen,” Bloys continued. “Obviously, the Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That’s our priority — what’s on screen.”
As for how close the author will be to the series, Bloys said, “[Rowling] will be involved. She’s an executive producer on the show. Her insights are going to be helpful on that.”
He was clear, however, that WBD wasn’t entirely dependent on Rowling for the project.
“The TV show is new and we’re excited about that. But, remember, we’ve been in the Potter business for 20 years. This is not a new decision for us, we’re very comfortable being in the Potter business.”
How Much Will It Cost?
“You know we make shows at this scale with House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones,” said Bloys. “I imagine will be that scale or higher. The shorter answer is whatever it takes to make a quality show.”
Per Deadline reporting, House of the Dragon cost nearly $200 million and was the subject of HBO’s biggest marketing campaign ever, valued at over $100M in media spend (that’s a combo of ad spot value and hard cash shelled out). So fans can expect a similar outlay for the Potter series “or higher,” according to HBO/Max boss Bloys.
Will there be other Harry Potter-related projects?
“We’re free to do anything we want,” Zaslav said, before hedging a bit. “Some areas we need to do with J.K., other areas we have the full ability to go forward. This is a full deployment on Max of Harry Potter. We can still develop other properties.”
It’s unclear where those boundaries lie, but it is clear that Warner Bros. Discovery would like more Potter. Since he took control of the merged company, Zaslav has stressed multiple times his focus on franchises, with mining the Harry Potter IP identified as a top priority.
How long has this been in the works?
Max and its then-parent company WarnerMedia started exploring a potential Harry Potter TV series a couple of years ago. At the time, Warner Bros. appointed Kids, Young Adult and Classics president Tom Ascheim to manage the Wizarding World and Potter franchises, which include theme parks, tours and the $9.1 billion-grossing theatrical library that spans the Harry Potter and spinoff Fantastic Beasts titles. Under that setup, Ascheim became WarnerMedia’s senior rep in its relationship with Rowling and her representatives, and exploratory conversations for a Max series got underway.
After the Discovery acquisition was completed a year ago, that unit was disbanded and Ascheim exited the company. However, the importance of the Harry Potter IP has only grown post-merger.
Zaslav spoke about his family’s own personal connection to the series.
“My wife and I, we read (the Harry Potter books) to each of our three kids,” said Zaslav, going off script at the Max announcement. “It’s really moving, for ten consecutive years, people will see Harry Potter on HBO; I mean it’s really something.”
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