The doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry are set to reopen in a new Harry Potter TV show that will bring the magical adventures of the Boy Who Lived the small screen. HBO’s television reboot of the beloved children’s series is officially in the works.
After much speculation, a Harry Potter TV show was confirmed by Warner Bros. Discovery in spring 2023. Initially set to be a Max Original, it’s now moved over to HBO proper. The initial announcement noted that it would be a “faithful adaptation” of the original novels by British author J.K. Rowling and that the controversial writer was on board as a producer.
Otherwise, details were thin on the ground, aside from a brief teaser trailer that featured zero seconds of footage and did little beyond confirming the project was in development. Fortunately, in recent months a few details have now trickled out. However, we’re still without some crucial info like who will play Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Nevertheless, if you can't wait to revisit Hogwarts and once again experience Harry’s journey from an orphan living in a cupboard under the stairs to a fully grown wizard on a mission to defeat the Dark Lord Voldemort, here’s everything we know about the Harry Potter TV show.
Harry Potter TV show potential release date
Devoted Harry Potter fans will no doubt want this small-screen version of the beloved books to arrive at a speed that would make a Firebolt broomstick blush, but unfortunately, making a TV show of this scale is a slow-moving process, and Harry Potter won’t make his HBO debut in 2024. Don’t even expect to meet the new Potter and pals next year either.
During an earnings call in February of this year, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav indicated that the Harry Potter TV show isn’t expected to premiere until 2026. Exactly when in 2026 viewers can expect to be dining in the Great Hall and sleeping in the Gryffindor common room is a mystery. The wait is already more torturous than listening to the Fat Lady sing so let’s hope for an early 2026 date.
Harry Potter TV show cast
To cut a long story short, we have no confirmed cast members for the Harry Potter TV show.
Naturally, fans have spent the last 12 months (and counting) posting all manner of dream castings that range from the surprisingly inspired (Jonathan Pryce as Albus Dumbledore) to the ludicrously ill-judged (Anya Taylor-Joy as Luna Lovegood). As for the so-called Golden Trio, Harry, Ron and Hermine will likely be played by unknown child actors.
Of course, there’s been much speculation about whether the cast of the ever-popular Harry Potter movies will return (potentially in new roles or just in a cameo appearance), but don’t bet on it. For starters, the show’s creative team almost certainly wants to create a new spin on the franchise that can exist separately from the movies, and the original actors have long since aged out of their roles.
When asked by E! News if he’d want to return to the Potterverse, Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry in all eight movies released between 2001 and 2011, the British actor said, “I don't think so. I think they very wisely want to [have] a clean break. And I don't know if it would work to have us do anything in it." Though he noted he would be watching the TV show.
Matthew Lewis, who played Neville Longbottom, offered a similar response telling People, “It’s not something I’m looking at or want to do” but he diplomatically left the door just a little bit ajar also stating that he “would not turn [his] nose up at.”
Harry Potter TV show creators and crew
While we’re without any details on the cast, we’ve got some information on who’s working on the Harry Potter TV show behind the scenes. It’s been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter that Francesca Gardiner will serve as showrunner and writer.
Meanwhile, Mark Mylod will direct multiple episodes and is on board as a producer. Mylod and Gardiner have previously worked together on HBO’s “Succession” and both won Emmy awards for their contributions to the critically acclaimed drama Gardiner’s other credits include “His Dark Materials” and “Killing Eve”, while Mylod has directed episodes of “Games of Thrones”, “The Last of Us" season 2 and helmed the well-received thriller movie “The Menu."
The news that the show will be led by Gardiner, and at least partially shepherded from the director's chair by Mylod, seemingly puts to bed the idea that longtime Potter director David Yates will return. Yates directed the final four Potter movies and all three installments in the largely lackluster “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” movie franchise.
Harry Potter TV show plot
There are no prizes for guessing the plot of the Harry Potter TV show; it’ll adapt the best-selling novels. This means starting with 1997’s "Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone" (released as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone" in the U.S.) and presumably culminating in a final season that covers "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows."
David Zaslav has confirmed that the plan is to adapt a book per season for a total of seven seasons. This is particularly exciting for Potter fans who felt the movie version had to cut too much stuff to shrink some of the larger books ("Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" is almost 900 pages) into two-hour movies. The movies are notorious for cutting plot points, and the lack of Quidditch coverage was an outrage.
The Harry Potter TV show will presumably have the extra time needed to cover fan-fan-favorite events omitted from the films like Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday Party in "Philosopher’s Stone" and Hermione creating S.P.E.W. (Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare) in "Goblet of Fire."
Harry Potter TV show outlook
There’s a degree of reasonable skepticism about the Harry Potter TV show. In fact, one TG staffer labeled it “the worst idea ever” when it was announced. The enduring popularity of the movies makes another adaptation feel somewhat redundant, and the Harry Potter IP has been tainted by Rowling’s transphobic comments.
However, as enjoyable as the movies remain to this day, there’s no denying that an awful lot of the source material was cut to squeeze each novel into a two-hour movie. A long-form TV show could be the perfect medium to tell these beloved fantasy stories in more detail and include all the plots and character arcs that never made the final theatrical cut.
It does feel like a missed opportunity to not explore the expanded Wizarding World beyond the adventures of Harry Potter. But considering the declining quality of the spin-off Fantastic Beasts series, perhaps HBO should stick with the familiar rather than step into the unknown.
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