The Harry Potter series is coming to HBO Max in 2027, and there's already been a lot of talk about just how many episodes will be in the first season. It's been rumored and reported that the first season would only consist of six episodes, a number much shorter than many fans originally hoped.
Well, it turns out those reports might not be accurate. According to a new scoop from Daniel Richtman, also known as Daniel RPK, the first two seasons of the Harry Potter series will actually consist of eight episodes each.
Here's what he revealed in a recent post:
"Despite recent reports, I’ve confirmed with my sources that the first two seasons of the Harry Potter series will have 8 episodes each, not 6."
We're obviously waiting for Warner Bros. to confirm the official episode count, but I've been following Daniel for a while, and he shares a lot of accurate information before it becomes publicly available.
In April, Warner Bros. TV CEO Channing Dungey wasn't ready to share the full episode count with Deadline in an interview, but Dungey did mention they were close to coming up with the official number of episodes.
"Not something that we can share, because we’re still working on some finesses on the last couple of scripts, and the question becomes, do we think that it’s worth breaking one into two more? We should know shortly I would think."
I've gone back and forth in how I feel about on the episode count for the first few seasons of the Harry Potter series. On one hand, there's a lot of material from those first three books that just didn't make it on screen in the Harry Potter movies. There are a lot of scenes that happen outside of Harry's perspective that would be really interesting to include, too. Exploring those parts of this story would be something I'm interested in.
On the other hand, those first few movies are in the two-hour range, and that honestly feels like long enough for those stories. There might not be material to support a 10-episode season of Harry Potter until at least Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which should be the fourth season if everything goes to the reported plan.
Ultimately, I feel better that the first two seasons will be eight episodes vs. six episodes, though. There's probably too much story to cover in six episodes, and there's probably too little story to justify 10 episodes, so eight episodes in the first season feels like a sweet spot.
Impact is everything, though. Inherently, there will be fans of Harry Potter who watch because they just love this world and story so much. There are also going to be a lot of doubters and those who won't tune in for other reasons. If the series fails to make a splash earlier, or it flops because it's uninteresting right out of the gate in season 1, it's going to be hard for the series to recover.
So, again, I think all Harry Potter fans should be happy the first season is going to be longer than six episodes. Hopefully, Francesca Gardiner and the team can make the impact, right from the jump, that the series needs.
As mentioned, the Harry Potter series will premiere on HBO Max in 2027. Production just started this summer in the UK.
We'll share more news about the series as find out. Stay tuned!