Harry Potter TV show is "moving along" at Max

Last year, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that they were making a new TV show based on the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling, to be released on the Max streaming service (formerly HBO Max). Yes, the Harry Potter movies only wrapped up a decade ago and remain very popular, so it's questionable whether a new adaptation with a new cast is necessary. But the series remains a big draw, so the opportunity must have seemed too good for WBD to pass up.

WBD made the announcement very early in the show's development, just so we knew they were working on something. We've heard nothing about casting, format, release date, or anything else. Talking about WBD's success at the 75th Annual Emmy Awards this past weekend, HBO CEO Casey Bloys gave the barest of updates to TheWrap, saying the studio is "moving along" and "having conversations" about the new series, but didn't offer anything concrete.

We do know that WBD plans for the Harry Potter show to run for a long time, and producer David Heyman has said that it will explore the books "more deeply." There are things from Rowling's novels that were left out of the movies, although whether that was because the movies didn't have time or because those parts weren't worth adapting is an open question. If this new show is more comprehensive, we can decide for itself when it premieres in...2027, maybe?

I understand that WBD wanted to reveal this project early on, since Harry Potter is so popular, but it probably would have been prudent to wait until they had a bit more news to share. I can't help but remember all the Star Wars films Disney announced early — a Rogue Squadron movie from Patty Jenkins, a trilogy from Rian Johnson, a trilogy from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss — only for all of those projects to be shelved. In the entertainment industry, things can change along the way. It's probably too early to start talking about potential release dates. First, let's see if this new Harry Potter series makes it out the other end of the tunnel at all.

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