‘Harry Potter’ reboot could come in the form of a new HBO Max series

Christopher Rosen
·4 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

The muggle world was buzzing on Monday night with news that Warner Bros. Discovery and HBO Max were nearing a deal with “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling to produce a massive television series based on her beloved and best-selling books.

Bloomberg first reported this round of news, but if the idea that HBO Max wants to reboot “Harry Potter” as a streaming series sounds familiar, that’s because it has been discussed for years. Back in 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed Warner Bros. executives were in early conversations about a potential wizarding world series and that “broad ideas have been discussed as part of the early-stage exploratory meetings.”

More from GoldDerby

Warner Bros. downplayed the news two years ago by claiming nothing based on Rowling’s epic series was in development at that moment. In a later interview with Deadline, HBO boss Casey Bloys reiterated that the brand was not moving quickly on anything related to “Harry Potter,” but did leave the door open for something more. “There’s nothing in development but I think it’s fair to say across ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Harry Potter,’ and DC, these are franchises that WarnerMedia enjoys and it’s a big advantage for us so there’s always going to be interest in doing something of quality from those properties,” he told Deadline.

According to Bloomberg, Bloys and current Warner Bros. Discovery leader David Zaslav have “worked to convince” Rowling to produce the series. The general idea, as reported by Bloomberg, is that Rowling will be “involved in the series to ensure it remains loyal to her original material but will not run the show day to day or serve as its primary creator.” The author, who has expanded the “Harry Potter” universe with the film franchise “Fantastic Beasts” as well as a stage play that served as a sequel to her books, is a controversial figure to some for her comments about the transgender community and gender issues.

That Zaslav is involved in courting Rowling, however, is also not a surprise. Last year, Zaslav said he hoped his company could “do something” with the author around “Harry Potter.”

“We’re going to have a real focus on franchises,” Zaslav said when he took over Warner Bros. Discovery. “We haven’t had a ‘Superman’ movie in 13 years. We haven’t done a ‘Harry Potter’ movie in 15 years. The DC movies and the ‘Harry Potter’ movies provided a lot of the profits of Warner Bros. Motion Pictures over the last 25 years. So a focus on the franchise — one of the big advantages that we have, ‘House of the Dragon’ is an example of that, ‘Game of Thrones,’ taking advantage of ‘Sex and the City,’ ‘Lord of the Rings,’ we still have the right to do ‘Lord of the Rings’ movies. What are the movies that have brands that are understood and loved everywhere in the world?”

In keeping with that promise, Warner Bros. is readying a new Superman movie from James Gunn. There are also rumblings of another “Game of Thrones” spinoff in the works. The “Harry Potter” series could be a massive win for HBO Max and the larger company. Rowling wrote seven books in the series. Bloomberg reported a concept for the show would be that each season would revolve around a single novel. No word if “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” the sequel play Rowling co-wrote, would be included in the plans.  

PREDICT the 2023 Emmy nominees through July 12

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

SIGN UP for Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

Best of GoldDerby

Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.