Why is HBO making a Harry Potter TV series? To explore the books "more in-depth"

Although we likely won't see it for a while, HBO's new Harry Potter TV show is one of the biggest series on the horizon. How could it not be? The Harry Potter books and movies remain incredibly popular and influential, and the controversies surrounding author and executive producer J.K. Rowling add some spice to the proceedings.

HBO is moving ahead with the show; Francesca Gardiner (Killing Eve, His Dark Materials) will serve as showrunner while Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones) will direct several episodes. Meanwhile, casting directors are on the hunt for new actors to play Harry, Ron and Hermione, the iconic characters at the center of the story. Speaking at the television industry trade show Mipcom, Warner Bros. Discovery executive Channing Dungey said that “writing staff was in place and they’re doing what they need to do, and casting calls have opened up in the U.K. and Ireland, so the process is moving along,” per Variety.

It's all exciting and nerve-wracking, although some fans still ask: with eight well-liked Harry Potter movies already having come out, is there a need for a TV show? The last movie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, came out in 2011, which is a while back, but not so long ago that the movie can't be enjoyed on its own terms. It's hardly an ancient classic that needs an update.

Dungey described getting to work in the Harry Potter universe as an "unbelievable dream," and said that, "as somebody who is a huge fan of the books, the opportunity to get to explore them in a little bit more in-depth that you can in just a two-hour film… that’s the whole reason we’re on this journey.”

It's true that the movies did leave out things from Rowling's books...but it's also true that they didn't leave out that much, and that some of the things they did cut might be better left unadapted. One example that gets brought up a lot is a subplot from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth book, where Hermione starts up an organization to advocate on behalf of house-elves, a race of domestic workers who are basically slaves. But she gets pushback from everyone, including many of the house-elves themselves, who by and large...enjoy being slaves, I guess? That could be a tricky one to pull off on the big or small screen.

That said, a TV show could definitely give the story more room to breathe. I'm not opposed to the idea on principle, and I'm very curious to see how the whole thing turns out. We'll find out when the Harry Potter TV show premieres sometime in 2026.

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