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. S
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.
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.
