Gary Oldman says HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ series could be more satisfying than films

Oldman remains proud of playing Sirius Black and credits Chris Columbus for building original cast

Gary Oldman believes HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series could give fans a fuller experience than the original films because the television format allows the story to retain significantly more material from J K Rowling’s books.

Oldman, who played Sirius Black across four Harry Potter films, shared his thoughts during an interview with Entertainment Weekly at the Toronto International Film Festival. The actor said the original movies faced difficult limits when adapting Rowling’s lengthy novels for the cinema, resulting in substantial cuts to character development and story details.

"We had to cut a lot, and still we could only get the films down to, like, three hours," Oldman said. He explained that considerable character detail had to be sacrificed to keep the films within a traditional theatrical runtime.

That is where he believes HBO’s version could have an advantage. According to Oldman, the series will be able to stay considerably closer to the books because individual stories can unfold across episodes rather than being compressed into a single film.

"I believe [the TV series is] gonna do it pretty much word for word, which I think, as a viewer, would be more satisfying," he said.

Oldman’s comments are particularly notable because Sirius Black was one of the characters whose story was significantly condensed in the film adaptations. He first appeared as Sirius in 2004’s Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, where the character was introduced as Harry Potter’s godfather and an important figure connected to his parents.

Oldman returned as Sirius in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Although Sirius plays an important role in Harry’s story, the films were unable to include every detail surrounding his relationships, history and connection to the wider wizarding world.

HBO’s new adaptation is being developed as an episodic retelling of Rowling’s seven book series. The first season, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, consists of eight episodes and is scheduled to debut on Christmas Day 2026 on HBO, with streaming available through HBO Max.

The new cast includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. John Lithgow plays Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer portrays Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu plays Severus Snape and Nick Frost appears as Rubeus Hagrid. HBO has not announced who will play Sirius Black in the television adaptation at this stage.

For Oldman, however, the new production does not diminish what the original films achieved. He remains proud of being part of the franchise and described the phenomenon created by those movies as something he does not expect to see repeated.

He also singled out Chris Columbus, director of the first two films, for helping establish the world and assemble the original cast. Oldman said the production was fortunate that the actors returned repeatedly and were able to grow into their roles as the franchise continued.

Oldman has previously acknowledged that Sirius was not given enough screen time in the movies, making his latest comments particularly relevant to fans hoping the HBO adaptation can restore some of the material that was left out.