Not many names in the film and television industry come with as much esteem as Hans Zimmer. The multi-award-winning composer has scored more than 500 projects across all mediums, with his films garnering almost $30 billion at the box office. Such films he's worked on include Interstellar, Dune, The Dark Knight trilogy, The Last Samurai, and so on.
And now, in a recent press release from Warner Bros., Zimmer and his team have secured their next big project, which will see them follow in the footsteps of fellow legendary composer John Williams to score HBO's upcoming live-action adaptation of Harry Potter.
The Harry Potter series has so far garnered a lot of publicity, and not all of it has been wholly positive. Does the world really need another Harry Potter adaptation? Why would anyone want to support J.K. Rowling, given her very public fall from grace in recent years? There's other big IPs that could get adapted, right? The list of criticisms goes ever on, but here we are.
The HBO series is written and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner. Some major casting has already been announced, with Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Alistair Stout as Ron Weasley, and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger. A few big names are attached too, including Nick Frost as Hagrid and John Lithgow as Professor Albus Dumbledore.
The addition of Hans Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers (a Grammy and BAFTA-nominated collective) is a major statement for the series, adding even more Hollywood esteem to the project. In a statement on joining Harry Potter, the team of Hans Zimmer, Kara Talve, and Anže Rozman, wrote:
"The musical legacy of Harry Potter is a touch point for composers everywhere and we are humbled to join such a remarkable team on a project of this magnitude. The responsibility is something that myself, Kara Talve and Anže Rozman do not take lightly. Magic is all around us, often just beyond reach, but as in the world of Harry Potter, you simply must look for it. With this score we hope to bring audiences that little bit closer to it whilst honoring what has come before.”
HBO's Harry Potter began filming in Summer 2025 and production is still ongoing; it's expected to wrap its debut season in the next few months. The series will premiere in 2027. HBO is very much committed to seeing through the entire set of seven novels, with the series estimated to remain on our screens until well into the mid-2030s.
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