‘Harry Potter’ “Decade-long” Series Ordered At Max Streaming Service
At a press event today, Warner Bros Discovery not only announced that streaming service “HBO Max” would now be simply “Max”, but also revealed they had ordered a ‘Harry Potter‘ series, which is being described as a “decade-long” project covering all of the J.K. Rowling novels about the young wizard.
As I’m sure most people on the planet are aware at this point, JK Rowling’s series of novels follow the exploits of teen wizard Harry Potter, along with his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, as they progress through their years as students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
According to the press release, this TV version of ‘Harry Potter’ will see “the stories from each of Rowling’s books 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.”
The new series comes from WBTV, with Bronte Film and TV, and will be exec produced by Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts. David Heyman, who produced all eight feature films, is also in talks to exec produce. They are now seeking someone to write and serve as showrunner on the project.
“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” commented Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content. “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.”
The books have, of course, already been made into a massively successful film franchise starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint, which does rather beg the question as to the point of a tv series. On the flip side of that, fans of the novels would likely point out the massive amount of content in the books which was left out of the films due to the limited time prescribed by a movie. A point which Rowling agrees with.
“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,” said the author.
As to where this will end up in the UK is anyone’s guess… Sky currently has a deal which allows them to air any HBO series in the UK, but that deal does not cover “Max” content. That HBO/Sky carriage deal also runs out in 2025, and it seems unlikely it will get directly renewed. It would make far more sense for Warner Bros Discovery to launch the Max streaming service in the UK instead, although there has been no confirmation of that at this point.
If you want to keep track of ‘Harry Potter‘ or any other show, you can add it via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date.
