Fans of the successful franchise Harry Potter have lots to look forward to in the next few years, but this time in the form of a television series on HBO’s streaming service Max. Earlier this year at Max streaming event, Warner Bros. Discovery verified the talk of the show based on the seven books by J.K. Rowling. Via Deadline, Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO of HBO & Max Content, stated, “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.”
Reports from April stated that each season of the untitled show would focus on one book from the series, but Bloys seemingly rejected this theory by announcing that the show would run for “ten consecutive years”, which means all of the books will be covered but not with each book getting its own season. Rowling’s production company Bronte Film and TV reported a 74% drop in profits at the end of March, and via Deadline about the streaming service Max, “… it’s a pretty good bet the company wants Harry Potter casting his spell on users of the platform ASAP.” David Zaslav, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO, announced at a Goldman Sachs conference this week that nothing has been done with Harry Potter in over a decade, and when examining Warner Bros. performance over the last 20 years, not counting Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and DC, their performance has been “relatively flat.”
Not much about the show has been revealed to fans other than the announcement of the show. Max’s focus has been on finding a showrunner for the series, with it being unlikely any of the characters have been cast yet. J.K Rowling will be involved in the show as she has control creatively over the exploitation of her work, with the agreement being finalized. According to Deadline, Rowling said in a statement, “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.” Once the series is ready for viewing, it will be available with a subscription to Max. The streaming offers several price tiers: Max Ad Light for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, Max Ad Free for $15.99 a month or $149.99 a year, and Max Ultimate Ad Free for $19.99 a month or $199.99 a year.
The Harry Potter series is expected to air in 2025 or 2026.