'Harry Potter' live-action TV series is in the works at HBO Max

Executives have had a series of meetings with writers to bring the blockbuster franchise to television.


Entertainment Desk January 26, 2021

A live-action Harry Potter TV series is reportedly in the works at HBO Max, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The project is currently in its "extremely nascent stages," with the streamer merely having conversations with writers to brainstorm various ideas for the show. The studio and HBO Max are outright denying having a project officially in development as of yet.

Bringing Harry Potter to the small screen for the first time would be a pretty dramatic and perhaps an inevitable move. It seems that following the success and coming expansion of Disney+'s Star Wars series The Mandalorian, streaming servers are digging out critically acclaimed cinematic properties for television.

The longtime budgetary and creative distinctions between "TV-sized" content and "big-screen-sized" content has been nearly eliminated as television budgets have increased and special effects have improved, according to EW.

But Harry Potter is perhaps a trickier property to expand than per se the likes of Game of Thrones. While George RR Martin has openly expressed his desire to expand his fantasy universe on the small screen, author JK Rowling has expressed reluctance to return to Hogwarts one too many times.

The Fantastic Beasts film prequels, on the other hand, are a sort of feathered fish provided the franchise has morphed into a half cute creature story and half World War II allegory. It has been on a downward trend at the box office. Not to mention, Rowling had recently landed herself in hot waters after relaying her stance on trans rights issues.

Still, the fandom love of the Wizarding World and the original series of novels and films remains exceedingly high and there are surely many stories that could be told within Hogwarts' classrooms, Great Hall, Quidditch pitch, and all the as-yet-unexplored areas in between.

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ