The other day, HBO celebrated the beginning of filming on its Harry Potter TV series by releasing a picture of child actor Dominic McLaughlin in costume as Harry himself, decked out in his Hogwarts wizard robes. HBO plans to adapt all seven of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books to the screen one season at a time, diving into more of the details than the movies had time for. Season 1 will premiere sometime in 2027.
That raise a concern: these days, fans are waiting longer and longer between seasons of their favorite shows, especially big sci-fi/fantasy tentpole dramas. Imagine if we have to wait two years or more between seasons of this new Harry Potter show; the young cast members will be in the mid-20s by the time it's over, struggling to convince us that they're actually in high school.
Apparently, HBO has thought about that. Redanian Intelligence, a Witcher fansite that sometimes gets inside scoops on fantasy TV shows, claims that someone close to the production of the Harry Potter series has approached them and given them information about HBO's plans. This information isn't verified, but RI is generally very reliable, so I think it's worth a look.
According to this source, HBO plans to film the first season of Harry Potter, which will adapt the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, from July of this year through May of 2026. Generally there would be a gap after that while the network decides whether or not to renew the series. But according to RI, they'll start filming the second season (which will adapt Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) just a couple of months later, staring in July of 2026 and ending in May of 2027. If they move at that clip, the hope is that they could release a new season of the show yearly, rather than forcing fans to wait long periods in between.
There's a catch: these first two seasons would run for only six episodes apiece, with future seasons possibly going up to eight. Episode counts for these sorts of shows have been dwindling in recent years, and six is indeed pretty low. Then again, the early Harry Potter books are pretty short, and I imagine the producers can fit in everything they want to fit in with six hours of TV and then some. I'm not mad about that part.
He Must Not Be Named
Filming from July to May means the cast and crew will be filiming for a whole 10 months, which is a long time. How can they spend that long on just six episodes? According to RI's source, the shooting period is extended because because they have to abide by child labor laws. The Harry Potter books are about a bunch of kids going to wizard school; it's got a huge cast of child actors, so it's best to take things slow and carefully.
Another bombshell from the RI report involves Voldemort, the main villain of the piece. He kinda-sorta shows up in the first two books, but in strange, oblique ways. However, according to RI, Voldemort has been cast and will appear in "several" episodes. HBO has cast an actor in the part, but they don't want to reveal the name just yet. They're saving that one.
Finally, RI reports that the first episode will end with Harry Potter and his First Year classmates approaching Hogwarts castle in boats guided by Hagrid, the school's kindly groundskeeper. Speaking of Hagrid...
First look at Nick Frost as Hagrid
We're getting more and more looks at the actors in costume, including Shaun of the Dead star Nick Frost as Hagrid. The giant-sized Hagrid was played by Robbie Coltrane in the original movies. Frost has big shoes to fill.
Here's everyone we know is in the cast so far:
- Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter
- 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
- Nick Frost as Hagrid
- Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom
- Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley
- Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch
- Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander
We'll keep an eye on things as they develop.
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