The world has been divided over the news that HBO was planning a Harry Potter TV series. The main issue is, the Harry Potter HBO reboot is seen by some fans as coming too soon after the original eight films — and of course You-Know-Who (J.K. Rowling) will be making major bank from it.
But some Harry Potter stans are excited for the prospect of longer book adaptations, with each of the seven novels apparently set to cop its own full season of the HBO TV series, according to Bloomberg. Justice for Charlie Weasley, who didn’t even make it into the film versions. Maybe we’ll finally see him on our screens.
On Thursday, HBO Max confirmed that they have ordered production of the Harry Potter TV series, so here’s what we know so far.
Is HBO doing a Harry Potter TV series?
All the way back in 2021, industry bible The Hollywood Reporter was first to report that a HBO Max Harry Potter TV series was in “early development”.
Fast forward two years to 2023 and Deadline provided us with an update: the series was “on track to clear its biggest hurdle”, which is — you guessed it — getting Rowling on board.
And this week, HBO has finally confirmed the news, along with a slew of other TV show announcements — including another Game of Thrones spinoff. It’s been confirmed that Rowling will executive produce the series, and I’m genuinely interested to see if this deters actors from getting involved.
HBO released a cute little teaser trailer along with the announcement.
Your Hogwarts letter is here.
Max has ordered the first ever #HarryPotter scripted television series, a faithful adaptation of the iconic books. #StreamOnMax pic.twitter.com/3CgEHLYhch
— Max (@StreamOnMax) April 12, 2023
When will the Harry Potter TV series premiere?
Well it’s officially in production now, but we can only speculate on a production timeline. The first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, is relatively short, so surely it won’t take long to write the script — the source material is right there!
Professor Trelawney would probably predict a late 2024 premiere date for the Harry Potter HBO series at the very earliest.
What will the HBO Max Harry Potter series be about?
The announcement came with some tea about how the Harry Potter TV series and HBO Max will unfold. Chairman & CEO of HBO and MAx Content Casey Bloys said in a statement:
“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way. 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.”
A statement from HBO Max read: “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.”
Who will be cast in the Harry Potter reboot?
A statement from HBO Max indicated that the there will be no returning cast members from the original films.
“[Harry Potter will be a] decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much-loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over 25 years.”
Daniel Radcliffe has also confirmed he won’t be appearing in the reboot.
Which is fine. Harry Potter lovers have been mentally fancasting a reboot or a Marauders prequel for years now, so some of the work is already done for HBO Max.
If you’re not familiar, the Marauders are the characters Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Harry’s dad, James Potter.
So really, HBO have had the hard work done for them. In fact, fans have been talking about a Marauders prequel for so long, their dream cast are now old enough to play the characters as they appear in the Harry Potter books.
So let’s dive in to those characters first, shall we?
Andrew Garfield as Remus Lupin
This is a really popular fancast, to the point that Andrew Garfield himself is aware of it. He was even asked about it in a WIRED interview (at the 2:26 mark below):
Garfield is currently 39 and the character of Lupin (played by David Thewlis in the last four OG movies) is supposed to be 35 when we first meet him, but looking a little older due to the whole werewolf thing. So that maths checks out.
Ben Barnes as Sirius Black
Another fancast that just won’t quit is this one — Shadow and Bone star Ben Barnes as Harry Potter’s wildly handsome godfather and fan-fave character Sirius Black.
At 41, Barnes is a little older than mid-30s Sirius but hot damn, he looks good for his age.
Like Garfield, Barnes has been asked about this and was kinda into the comparisons:
@drarryhq #drarryhq #fyp #foryoupage #siriusblack #marauders #benbarnes #garyoldman #harrypotter
Sounds like he’s very much a Harry Potter fan and he’s a Gryffindor. Match made in heaven, HBO.
Adam Driver as Severus Snape
True, there was a tradition to only cast British actors in the Harry Potter films but honestly, these fan edits just make it seem too perfect. Sorry, but I can’t un-see Adam Driver as Snape now.
@poisxnedits Reply to @poisxnedits adam driver as younger snape is my fav fancast #adamdriver #severussnape #harrypotter #NowVSThen #starwars #alanrickman
The idea of Driver playing the antagonistic Potions Master is not a new one, so you never know — HBO could already have him on their little reboot wish list.
New Harry Potter movie idea: Adam Driver as a young Snape, his years as a death eater and his transition into Dumbledore’s inside man. 10/10 would watch. pic.twitter.com/FEIP3c8xr3
— INSTILL (@InstillTV) November 21, 2020
Tom Felton as Lucius Malfoy
Someone who has always been proud of his Harry Potter work and frankly milked it for all its worth is Tom Felton, who of course played Harry’s nemesis Draco Malfoy in the original film series.
Tiktoker @incorrectharrypotter put it out there that Felton should play the father of his character in the Harry Potter HBO TV series, and it just makes sense, tbh.
@incorrectharrypotter This Harry Potter series on HBO is gonna be a wild reboot #greenscreen #harrypotter #harrypotterseries #hbomax #harrypotterreboot
Do it for us, Tom!
Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore
I mean, he already is Albus Dumbledore in a couple of the Fantastic Beasts prequel movies but there’s some confusion about his age in the original movies versus the prequels. This meme did the rounds after Secrets of Dumbledore was released:
Pop culture site ScreenRant flat-out reckons he’s too young to do the reboot, and given Dumbledore is supposed to be super old by the time Harry and co start at Hogwarts, they’re probably right. HBO better have a good CGI budget.
Unknown young actors as the main trio
This is kind of key, in my opinion. The Harry Potter HBO TV series should follow the original movies in casting young, unknown actors to play the core trio of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, teaming them up with more established actors.
As the cast reflected in the Return To Hogwarts HBO Max reunion special in 2022, it was pretty incredible to have these young up-and-comers working with absolute legends of stage and screen — Dame Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Gary Oldman… the list goes on.
Harry Potter made Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint household names, so it would be weird if some famous kid actor stepped into these iconic roles.
People of colour in the cast
In a very welcome bit of Hollywood intel, apparently the bigwigs over at HBO are looking to have a more diverse cast in the Harry Potter reboot.
Speaking on The Hot Mic podcast, US-based entertainment reporter Jeff Sneider dropped some tea about the direction the Harry Potter reboot might go in, casting-wise.
“What I’ve heard about this series is that they will make a concerted effort to cast more people of colour in the show,” Sneider said in an episode of the podcast.
“Particularly with regards to the role of Hermione… [she could] very well be an actress of colour.”
This would be in-line with the casting for the Harry Potter sequel stage show The Cursed Child, which has featured a Black actress playing Hermione on Broadway in the US, the West End in London and right here in Melbourne.
In fact, J.K. Rowling responded to the outrage from fans who said the casting of Noma Dumezwini in the first West End production wasn’t “canon” with a tweet saying:
Canon: brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione 😘 https://t.co/5fKX4InjTH
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 21, 2015
Ah, remember when J.K. Rowling said acceptable stuff on Twitter?
Is there a trailer for the Harry Potter HBO reboot yet?
No way, but we’ll update you as soon as more info apparates into our lives.
