According to Deadline, the new adapted Harry Potter television series is about to name the creative leader with their candidate list narrowed down to three names. A decision is expected soon however, Max and Warner Bros. Television have not publicly commented on the situation.
According to Deadline, writer Francesca Gardiner (Succession, Killing Eve) is one of the finalists adapt the book series for Max. Gardiner has strong history with HBO after working as an consulting producer on the final two seasons of Succession and an executive producer of His Dark Materials. She was a co-exec producer of AMC’s Killing Eve and has written for Amazon’s The Man In The High Castle and Starz’s The Rook.
At the time of Gardiner becoming a front running candidate a month ago, the list was between Martha Hillier (The Last Kingdom, Vera), Kathleen Jordan (Teenage Bounty Hunters, American Princess), Tom Moran (The Devil’s Hour, Wild Bill), Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Thirteen Lives) and Gardiner. There’s no word on if there will be a collaboration between the remaining writers.
According to Deadline, the list of writers were reached out to by Max to pitch a series reflecting their interpretation on the source material. It’s reported that JK Rowling (Harry Potter Book Series, The Running Grave) has to be involved in the writer selection process.
The Harry Potter series is set to be produced by Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros Television. The series will be executively produced by Ruth Kenley-Letts (C.B. Strike, The Midwich Cuckoos) and David Heyman (Paddington, Wonka). Heyman already has connection with the franchise having produced all of the film series along with the Fantastic Beast spin off series.
The franchise that was based on Rowling’s seven bestselling Harry Potter books which sold over 600 million copies worldwide. The popularity of the series sprung up stage productions, retail stores, theme parks, and a film series that has garnered $7.7 billion at the box office.