After years of rumors, Warner Bros. finally confirmed that a
Harry Potter series is happening - over the course of 10 consecutive years, the multi-season, live action saga will be an in-depth faithful homage to J.K. Rowling's seven books, far more than the films that completed barely over a decade ago.
This was announced during a Warner Bros. Discovery presentation by CEO David Zaslav and Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content on Wednesday. The saga isn't expected to premiere until at least 2025.
Rowling will executive produce the entire series, which will stream on the new-merged streaming service Max. As of now, a showrunner/writer is currently being vetted to helm the series; after that, casting will begin for Harry, Ron, Hermione and everyone - just like fans went through a generation ago in 2000.
Rowling's comment on the series:
Quote:
J.K. Rowling: 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.
The official description of the series:
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The stories from each of Rowling’s Harry Potter books will become 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. 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.
Said Bloys on finding a showrunner, during the press conference after the presentation:
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“We have been trying to be very close to the vest. 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 will start working with the Blair Partnership and we’ll start going out to the business.”
A few facts and tidbits revealed so far:
- David Heyman, who produced all eight feature films, is in talks to executive produce the original series based on the books
- Max will produce in association with Brontë Film and TV, and Warner Bros. Television. Rowling will executive produce along with Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts
- CEO Zaslav said that Warner Bros. has nearly free rein to create any Harry Potter content; some, like this series, will include Rowling, while others can be done on their own: "Some areas we need to do with J.K., other areas we have the full ability to go forward. This is a full deployment on Max of Harry Potter. We can still develop other properties."
- The 10-year series will not include any part of the Fantastic Beasts and Newt Scamander stories
- Zaslav confirmed: "for ten consecutive years, people will see Harry Potter on [Max]."
Looks like it's back to the drawing board again, and we're back with future casting news, set photos, and the whole shebang from 2000-2012. Stay tuned for more as it comes in for... at last 10 more years.