It’s happening — Max has officially set the Harry Potter TV series reboot for a 2026 premiere. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and the rest of the Hogwarts crew will be making their way back to your screen 15 years after the final movie in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, hit theaters. Per Variety, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav confirmed the show’s target debut during the company’s Q4 earnings call on February 23, 2024, and announced it would run for seven seasons, adapting each book in the series. Zaslav shared that he, along with HBO and Max heads Casey Bloys and Channing Dungey, recently met with J.K. Rowling about the reboot in London.
“We spent some real time with J.K. and her team,” Zaslav said. “Both sides just thrilled to be reigniting this franchise. Our conversations were great, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. We can’t wait to share a decade of new stories with fans around the world on Max.”
The green light of the Max Original reboot series was first announced on April 12, 2023, at a press event for Warner Bros. Discovery, the parent company of Max (formerly known as HBO Max). As previously reported, the streaming TV series will be based on the original books and not a new concept, with each season of the show detailing one book in the novel series. WBD shared in their press statement that the series will have a “decade-long” run, confirmed there will be an all-new cast, and ensured that the series “will be a faithful adaptation of the beloved original Harry Potter books.”
“My wife and I, we read [the Harry Potter books] to each of our three kids… It’s really moving, for ten consecutive years, people will see Harry Potter on [Max]; I mean it’s really something,” said Zaslav after making the initial announcement.
However, it’s impossible to move forward without addressing the J.K. Rowling of it all: Rowling’s harmful and hateful anti-trans comments over the past few years have thrown a shadow over her franchise, leaving many fans feeling conflicted about a story they deeply loved. Original Harry Potter actors like Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson have all spoken out in support of the trans community, expressing that Rowling’s transphobic ideals do not reflect their views at all.
While Bloomberg initially reported that the disgraced author — who retains creative control over any and everything Harry Potter — would be “involved in the series to ensure it remains loyal to her original material,” her exact involvement was not detailed. Casey Bloys, the Chairman and CEO of HBO & Max Content, later confirmed that Rowling will in fact serve as an executive producer on the series.
“J.K. is an executive producer, and her insights will be helpful,” said Bloys, per The Hollywood Reporter in spring 2023. “We are in the Harry Potter business. The TV show is new and exciting, but we’ve been in the Harry Potter business for 20 years; this isn’t a new decision. We’re comfortable being in the Potter business. J.K. is a very online conversation… It’s very nuanced and complicated and not something we’re going to get into. Our priority is what’s on-screen. The Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive about love and acceptance, and that’s our priority, what’s on the screen.”
After severe online backlash following the announcement, Rowling released her own statement: “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.”
A Harry Potter TV reboot has been on the horizon for the streaming service for years — back in January 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that HBO Max was “engaged in meetings to find a writer” for the potential series.
Recent projects associated with the franchise, including the Wizarding World theme park at Universal Studios, the Cursed Child stage production, the controversial Fantastic Beasts spinoffs, and the recently released open-world action RPG video game Hogwarts Legacy, have all been extremely successful.
To develop this new series, Max is currently working in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television, and will collaborate with executive producers Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts. Per Deadline, British producer David Heyman, who produced all eight original Potter films and the Fantastic Beasts movies, is also in talks to board the project as an executive producer. “We’re in conversations with a number of different writers to figure out who’s going to be the person to lead that franchise for us,” Channing Dungey updated Variety on January 22, 2024.
A brand-new Harry Potter franchise means another opportunity to really delve into the world of Hogwarts and cover events that didn’t make it into the original movies. It also means there will likely be a high-profile hunt for a new Harry, Hermione, and Ron given that the original cast has all aged out of their roles. As noted by Forbes, it’s also possible this series could finally make room for the diversity Rowling has retconned in the years after the release of the novels, like Hermione potentially being Black and explicitly portraying Dumbledore as gay.
“The first step for us is figuring out who this showrunner is going to be and once we get that locked down, then we can start having those [casting] conversations,” Dungey added to Variety in January. “The tricky part is the first two books, where the kids are on the younger end, around 11 or 12.”
In June 2023, Daniel Radcliffe told ComicBook expressed his support for this new era of the franchise, but is not necessarily interested in making a cameo. “I’m definitely not seeking it out in any way,” he shared. “But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world and I’m very excited to have that torch passed. But I don’t think it needs me to physically pass it.”
While it’s possible anyone could return for a cameo, in the years since the saga ended we’ve lost a handful of iconic HP actors. Alan Rickman, who played Professor Snape, died in 2016; Robbie Coltrane, who played Hagrid, died in 2022; and Michael Gambon, who played headmaster Albus Dumbledore, passed away most recently in 2023.
This story has been updated, and will continue to be updated as more news about the untitled Harry Potter Max series breaks.
Source: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Forbes, ComicBook
