HBO Max released the highly-anticipated trailer for Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, via Variety. This is the long-waited reunion series that gather actors and filmmakers from the eight Harry Potter films from 2001 to 2011. It also commemorates the franchise’s 20th anniversary of the release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
The trailer features clips from the three actors that played the iconic trio: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson. They respectively played Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Over the past ten years, the three went on and developed successful careers post Harry Potter. Watson starred in smash hit movies like Beauty And The Beast and Little Women, also earned herself critical praises. Radcliffe appeared in the horror movie The Woman In Black and a biographical drama film Kill Your Darlings. Grint focuses more on his TV career, playing main roles in TV series such as Sick Note, Snatch, and Servant.
The trailer teases the cast reminiscing about the movies as they wander around the famous Hogwarts movie set. Grint describes this as the “perfect time” to sit down with everyone and reflect on the glorious past. Watson says, “It feels like no time has passed — and loads of time has passed.” Radcliffe says that something that had scared him was “the implication that the most meaningful thing in our life was done,” and that seeing everyone is “joyous” because he realizes “it wasn’t though.”
The special series was taped at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. Many other actors and filmmakers that had worked for the past HP projects will also appear. Helena Bonham Carter (Alice In Wonderland), who played the antagonist Bellatrix Lestrange, shared her experience “pretending to be Hermione” in the trailer. Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List), who played the infamous Lord Voldemort, will also join. Fiennes says his sister, who had “Harry Potter”-aged children during the time when he was weighing whether to play Voldemort told him, “You’ve got to do it!”
Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, in association with Warner Horizon at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London — The Making of Harry Potter. The special will be available on Jan. 1, 2022, on HBO Max.