Warner Bros Discovery has just released some big news: as of May 23, the HBO Max platform will change its name simply to Max in the United States, a change that will come to Spain next year. The announcement comes with the intention of making a new, more complete catalog on the platform, adding all the new Discovery Plus releases.
However, the announcement has not come alone, but with dozens of news: Max will add to its catalog new series of The Big Bang Theory, The Batman, Game of Thrones or Rick and Morty. But the most important announcement came with music by John Williams and a logo we know very well: the Harry Potter logo.
Max will develop, as an original HBO fiction, a Harry Potter series whose intention is to adapt one book of the saga per season. The casting will be completely new and will serve as a reboot of the original story, with the intention of covering much more about the Wizarding World. But what exactly do we know about the series?
What will adapt the Harry Potter series for Max?
The question is obvious: will the Harry Potter series bring a new story? And the answer is clear: no. Instead of telling new plots about the Wizarding World, as Warners did with the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them saga, this new series will retell the plot of J.K. Rowling’s original books.
Thus, we will see again the story of Harry revealing himself as the boy who survived, traveling to Hogwarts and living there his thousand and one adventures with Ron and Hermione. The story will be exactly the same as in the movies, and apparently they will also keep the John Williams tune and the original logo.
The big plot differences, therefore, will come from the bulk of what they adapt. With the films, the directors had very limited space to adapt the original books, and this became more evident with each passing film as the books got longer and longer.
Therefore, turning Harry Potter into a series seems like a fantastic idea. They will have the opportunity to adapt all the plots of the book without leaving anything out, something that fans will appreciate. We will be able to learn much more about interesting secondary characters such as Dumbledore, Luna Lovegood or Hagrid, as we explore the story of the main characters.
Although nothing has been confirmed about this, it is very likely that the original production design (sets, costumes, etc.) will also be maintained in the series, as it has been in Hogwarts Legacy. In other words: it will be the same journey we already experienced with the film but elevated to series format.
Each season of Harry Potter will adapt a book -leaving the possibility for the last ones to last more seasons- and the intention is to release one season per year. The budget of the fiction will be similar to that of The House of the Dragon, more than 100 million per season, so we can expect a large production.
Will the original actors return to the Harry Potter series?
Max’s idea is to reboot the series with a completely new cast. In this way, it is most likely that almost all the actors of the series will be unknowns who return to the skin of Harry, Ron, Hermione and company. Although there have been rumors of rejuvenating the actors by CGI, none of this seems to be true.
What we could find is cameos of actors like Daniel Radcliffe or Emma Watson in other roles, or part of the cast as teachers who remain in their roles. Considering that Warner is still behind it, we can be sure that everything will be full of references to the original films.
Will JK Rowling be involved in the series?
Yes, JK Rowling will serve as a consultant for the new series and will review all the scripts and decisions behind the production. Although the last few years have been particularly troubled for the writer, whose transphobic comments have made many fans of the saga get off the bandwagon, this has not been enough reason for Warner to decide to “take her out of the way”.
Although it was made clear that she had nothing to do with Hogwarts Legacy and in the reunion of the cast of the films she did not appear again, in the series it has been made clear that she will be involved. The author has issued a statement in which she emphasizes “Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity” of the novels and explains that she is looking forward to the possibilities of a long-running TV series, which will allow for a “greater degree of depth and detail”.
We don’t know how fandom will take this, though it certainly must have been a complicated decision.
When does the Harry Potter series premiere?
We still don’t know anything about the premiere date of the Harry Potter series for Max. However, we do know that the rights to the saga are held by NBC Universal until April 2025, as part of an agreement signed with Warner for distribution.
Thus, legally Warner cannot release the series until after this date. Although, considering that they have already started development, we could be talking about a premiere during 2025 -probably Christmas- or early 2026.
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