Harry Potter TV Series Ordered at HBO Max With 10-Year (!) Commitment
Yer a wizard all over again, Harry.
A TV series based on the beloved Harry Potter novels has officially been ordered at HBO Max, the streamer revealed on Wednesday.
The project is described as a “faithful adaptation” of each of J.K. Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books, with plans for the show to span a decade. (It’s not yet clear if that equates to 10 seasons, or simply a 10-year lifespan for the series.)
“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,” HBO Max’s announcement reads.
“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” added HBO boss Casey Bloys. “Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, 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.”
Rowling will serve as an executive producer on the series, while David Heyman — who helped produce all eight of the Harry Potter films — is in talks to exec-produce, as well.
Wednesday’s announcement came during a press event held by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, where it was confirmed that HBO Max and Discovery+ will merge into a single streaming service called Max; get full details here.
Casting for HBO Max’s Harry Potter series will be announced at a later date. Are you excited for another trip to Hogwarts?
Not sure how I feel about this, but it will be interesting to see them cover things that were not in the movies. There was a lot left out. If the series is going cover that stuff, that will be cool
Yes reports are that in the series that much of left out of the book will be covered in the movie and the one that was really gutted was goblet of fire where literally half the book was thrown out and so you can focus on heroimine and her efforts to unionize house elf’s and that was great about the books is the side stories didn’t distract from the main story and oh also i believe it was half blood prince that we saw exactly why the Dursley’s hated Harry and it wasn’t because he did get to go to hogwarts but it was because mrs. Dursley also wanted to go to hogwarts but because she was a mud blood they denied her and also get to deleverage’s deeper into James Lilly and snake’s relationship
Welp, I wish them the best of luck. Hope it’s great for the fans. I am going to pass. I loved the original actors and movies too much (plus the books).
Ditto.
Shouldn’t it just be 7 years, cause of 7 books equal 7 seasons. Either way, I’m curious, and hope the new cast is good. They’ll have big shoes to fill. The books were still written when the movies came out, so the movies had to cut a lot out
But please, go with Olivia Coleman as Mcgonogall.
10 year may be because of time between seasons and pre production and stuff.. I would think this won’t get released until late 2025, maybe 2026.
Also yes for Olivia Coleman.
She would never commit to ten years working on a show
Seems like she already has, so you wrong their little bro.
Please name the show she has commited ten years to please because If i recall the longest she has been on a show is 3 years
Some of the books are pretty big. So to keep it a “faithful adaptation,” they might spread some of the seasons over a few of the books. The way I think of it, it’ll be the entirety of the Harry Potter story told throughout 10 seasons.
Way to give the teen cast a burden of having to match the iconic performances of Daniel, Emma and Rupert if you are going to redo the books for television..
TV probably works best in getting to the part of the books often ignored in the series. But those three sold the series, and it’s going to hard to to get out of the shadow.
I hate to break it to you, but Dan, Emma and Rupert weren’t very good in those movies. Acting-wise, the movies were carried by older actors. So, if anything, it’s going to be hard for new actors performing those roles to live up to their predecessors.
They were green in the roles, in the beginning. But grew with the movie series. As any one would be as a child being cast in a life changing role. But they are still iconic in the view of the characters, and with the audience. It’s still a shadow for any new cast, trying to follow in any of their footsteps…
As long as it’s actually authentic and faithful as they say I’ll be happy, I was very worried about that.
Yes I’m sure young actors looking for opportunities would absolutely hate a chance at such iconic roles which would cement their careers for years to come. 🤔🤭
garbage
Sara thank you for letting us know we forgot to put out the garbage
Not going to hate on this, but the cast is going to have some big shoes to fill. It will be life-changing for a whole new group though, that’s for sure.
Ridiculous.
I think you mean…Riddikulus!
+1000 TV Line points 😂😂😂
🏆🏆🏆
This sounds promising and overambitious at the same time. Those books get increasingly dense as the series goes on, and HP fans are rabid in knowing details. Such an easy target to miss. Plus the movies are beloved – that’s setting up young teens for comparison to the original cast and that’s always a recipe for disaster.
I REALLY like and agree with your analysis. One of the only level-headed ones in this comments section haha. Overambitious being the keyword. While I’d love for this to go off without a hitch, part of me feels after season 3 it all gets axed, leaving us in limbo while it gets shopped around for a new home (with no doubt a creative/tone shift muddying the waters) or dying altogether.
Rowling grew increasingly in need of an editor with each passing book.
A series will mean a chance to explore subplots, characters, etc. that couldn’t be adapted in the films
I hope the new Hogwarts has genital checkers protecting the restrooms from non-approved genitals. Please don’t let Harry near Myrtle’s lavatory!
*Except for all those times that Ron and Harry hung out in there with Hermione while she was brewing the polyjuice potion. . . and when they actually took the polyjuice potion. . . and . . .
I’m going to be honest I am surprised they are not attempting shows that expand the universe similar to Star Wars, Marvel, DC, etc. There are so many opportunities and new stories to be told within the world of the books. I guess we will see how it turns out. Big shoes to fill for the cast.
I’m assuming that’s because of how much of a misfire the Fantastic Beasts series turned into. The original books are a proven IP with millions of built-in fans. People will watch the first season out of sheer nostalgia/curiosity, if nothing else.
Do not approve.
There are a million other stories out there they could adapted instead of remaking HP.
The very thorough movie treatment is not enough?
Right? You keep seeing “they cut stuff out of the books!” as if it’s necessary, much less preferable, to dramatically depict every bit of the story in a visual medium.
There WERE segments of the books that would have been interesting to see, but were kept out because the books simply were too big and you only to about 2 1/2 hours at most. Which is why the final book despite being a money grab. Was the most complete, because they do the book as it was meant to be. There was a lot that could have been done… I am not saying I support this move. I think it’s going to be hard to capture the series that many spent more than a decade growing up and it’s a formable parts of our lives. And the young cast will have a huge burden. And even as was said, trying to match Snape or McGonagall…
It was very, very far from ‘thorough’, and, at times, totally WRONG. Often for no reason at all. The idiots that make these things really need to stop blowing things up – Vulcan. The Burrow, etc. – it never goes well with the fans.
I’m not sure how I feel about completely rebooting the franchise with a new cast. The eight movies that we have are both iconic & wonderful. Why mess with a good thing? Why try to redo something that was done right the first time? If it isn’t broken, there’s no need to fix it. But I will wait & see what they do.
Ha good luck getting someone to top Alan Rickman Snape
Ahhh… yes.
That one will be hard to replace :(
there is only one actor can play the role near as AR
and the actor is for me : Tom Hiddleston
tell me if i’m wrong.
Tom Hiddleston could be good, but I think the best choice would be Tom Burke. Alan Rickman was his godfather, and Burke stars in another Bronte Film & TV production – CB Strike. He is a fantastic actor and is good at playing Byronic Heroes. Plus, he has the right kind of look, too.
Stop giving TERFs like JK Rowling money.
Thank you!
She can take mine.
Talk about a necessary evil. It’s hard not to equate Rowling with Hate.
I’ll consider it good payback if they work in trans actors/roles into it. Let her seethe.
It’s a better way to go. Turning HP into a battlefield over her political views has mainly just had blowback and turned people off of trans issues. The franchise isn’t going away so instead just make it as inclusive as it always claimed to be despite also being riddled with ethnic stereotypes. Oh the Brits. 🤣🤣🤣
I agree JKR has let herself down with her opinions on Trans people but she is just one person. This Tv show is going to give probably thousands of people jobs and please remember that people grew up with Harry Potter and find solace in that world so it shouldn’t really be spoilt based on one persons negative thoughts. She did create all of this so she deserves credit where credit is due!
Better actors I hope, Peaves the poltergueist finally making an appearence, couldnt care less about whatever Politic views or gender views she has, I do care waht she does with the magic world.
Will this be … THE HOLE THING ?
From a young Dumbledore still studying at Hogwarts, through his years and adventures, through Voldemort years, the Original Order of the fenix with Harrys parents, their fight and fall of Voldemort up to the first year of Harry, through it all again and finishing with the latest release.. his son… messing with time ?
I wonder…. 10 years should be enough… :) :) :)
This will flop.
Just like you all claimed Hogwarts legacy would flop aye?? Keep going, it’s funny.
For real, I bet the success of the game (despite those working against it) gave HBO the confidence to proceed.
No, like the fantastic beasts movies
Well if it’s as droll and poorly written then sure.
That’s extraordinarily unlikely.
1. The movies really didn’t have a chance to include major storylines. The half blood Prince reveal in movie 6 was a great example of this. It had almost no juice because the half blood Prince was never properly explained or examined. The map makers as well as their history with Snape was also poorly explored. This series is a chance to tell the story the way the books told it.
2. The trio was good enough, but they won’t even reunite for a 9th movie. Bringing in a new crop of actors to grow with the show is a great way to lay the foundation for spin-offs or universe expansion. Maybe a follow up set 5-8 years after the series ends. Also I can see a prequel showing the events of a certain young villain at Hogwarts. This doesn’t mean more shows won’t get made, it just means they are also retelling the original story as a series.
3. The JK Rowling stuff will always be controversial, but the characters are not. She is already rich as sin and boycotting the show to punish her won’t change that. My personal politics aside, I have to ask how many other authors or writers, producers or directors have skeletons in their closet. I don’t like cancel culture partially because it is reactionary. We assume X is more virtuous than Y, but we don’t know what X is hiding. You can say I wish person A was consulting instead of Rowling. But what if person A is a really a racist or xenophob, and just more private about it.
I get that people don’t want the movies ruined or just forgotten. But the HP movies are not good HP movies. They are good movies. But the books have SO many crucial details that the movies just didn’t have time to include. And the details are what made HP so special. Movie 3 for instance completely butchered the Marauders back story. Piecing that together in the 3rd book was part of the fun of reading it. Because there is no way you could have seen the twists coming. They were hidden so well in the details. Movie 5 was the shortest one basically and it was the LONGEST book. Movie 6 basically had 1 1/2 Voldemort memories that are CRUCIAL to the past and present. In the book though it was 6/7 depending on how you want to see it. And each of those memories really explained Voldemort more as a character. He wasn’t just “evil.” I say all of this to say a HP series that has time to include this stuff is not a bad idea at all. Now if the first season is 4 episodes and its basically just a movie remake then bring out the money grabbing pitchforks. But for HP fans a chance to see more details like SPEW, Weasley is our King, multiple encounters with Dobby, all of the Harry and Snape moments, etc is very exciting and I’m looking forward to it.
Audience: Why are you returning to the Harry Potter series after all this time?
Casey Bloys: Money
They’ll have to hire young actors and time the filming so they appear the right age for each part of the story. It makes sense that they would plan the entire production in advance.
10 years, that surely is a commitment… Not sure how I feel about this. Yes, I do want a “very true to the book” adaptation. But… 10 years? Are you really sure there will be the market for that? Given how book adaptations have faired in recent times. Potter will still draw a big audience… But I really do think it won’t be as much as when they made the first ones.
I don’t worry about the cast at all though. They will hopefully get some (relatively?!) unknown child actors for all the child characters. Plus then there are so many great british/irish/scottish/welch actors for the “grown up” roles (I once saw videos for that on YouTube, and the person for example cast Adam Driver as Snape… I would really like that!!)
I think it’d be cooler if they did an anthology where each season takes place in a different decade or century at Hogwarts. Would kids in the 1700s be much different than those in the 1850s? Would kids in the 2020s who’ve been indoctrinated with technology even care to be a wizard?
That is a cool idea.
Rowling will serve as an executive producer on the series ,,,,, and thats a deffinite no from me, shame
“Rowling will serve as an executive producer on the series…” Then I’m going to bow out before it even gets going. I love the world she created, but I’m not going to support anything that’s going to give her more money and that she’s going to be actively involved in. There are things that I wish had been included in the original movies, but I think the movies are iconic enough and don’t need to be remade. If it was expanding the world, then maybe, but not just a re-do of what’s already done, and done well.