HBO has officially begun shooting its new Harry Potter TV series, which will adapt all seven books in J.K. Rowling's series in more detail than the movies did. To celebrate the occasion, they released an image of actor Dominic McLaughlin in costume as Harry himself:
Harry Potter, of course, is a young British boy who lives with his abusive aunt and uncle before finding out that he's actually a wizard and getting whisked away to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The books were a sensation when they started coming out in the late '90s and the movies were a sensation when they started coming out in the early 2000s. HBO is hoping its TV show will be a sensation when it premiere in 2027, which is officially the year it's coming.
HBO also announced a few new cast members joining the show, including:
- Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, a fried of Harry's at school
- Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Harry's bully of a cousin
- Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch, who teaches Hogwarts students how to ride broomsticks
- Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander, the wand salesman
Anton Lesser, FYI, played the creepy half-maester Qyburn in Game of Thrones, as well as the creepy Imperial officer Lio Partagaz in Star Wars: Andor. Garrick Ollivander is also a bit of a creepy guy, so this fits well.
Anyway, those four join the already large cast for the show, which includes:
- Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley
- Arabella Stanton as Hermione
- John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore
- Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape
- Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall
- Luke Thallon as Professor Quirrell
- Paul Whitehouse as Filch
- Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley
- Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy
- Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy
- Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan
- Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil
- Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown
- Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley
- Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley
- Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge
Francesca Gardiner will serve as the showrunner on the new Harry Potter series. Mark Mylod, who directed episodes of other HBO shows like Game of Thrones and Succession, will be an executive producer and direct multiple episodes, including the series premiere; his name is on the clapboard Dominic McLaughlin is holding in that new image. I suppose this also means that Harry will make it to Hogwarts by the end of the first episode, since McLaughlin is wearing Harry's school clothes.
HBO is going full steam ahead with this show, despite a lot of potential roadblocks. J.K. Rowling remains an incredibly controversial figure, and there are fans who wonder whether a TV version of Harry Potter is needed when the movies covered the books pretty well and aren't that old. I don't think any of that will keep the show from being a hit, if this cast and crew delivers. Game start.
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