When HBO Max was rebranded as "Max," Warner Bros. Discovery soon revealed plans for Harry Potter to be rebooted for the streamer as a TV series. Max is said to have a decade-long plan for the Wizarding World franchise, and new actors will take over the iconic roles for what's been described as an "authentic" retelling of J.K. Rowling's beloved series of novels.
The movies are classic in the eyes of many Wizarding World fans, but it's been over two decades since The Philosopher's Stone/The Sorcerer's Stone was released in theaters and close to a decade-and-a-half since The Deathly Hallows - Part 2 concluded the story.
With that in mind, now does feel like the right time for a reboot, especially after the Fantastic Beasts movies struggled to attract the same huge audience as the main Harry Potter series. With Max slowly zeroing in on a possible creative team, casting news is still a long way down the line.
However, finding this ensemble won't be an easy prospect for whoever ends up in charge of the small screen adaptation.
Not only will the streamer have to recast all those iconic adult roles (we feel for whoever has to follow in the late Alan Rickman's footsteps as Severus Snape), but they'll need to find children who can play their respective characters for close to a decade.
Talking to Variety (via SFFGazette.com) Warner Bros. executive Channing Dungey addressed the biggest challenges they're facing with casting this new take on Harry Potter.
"We’re in conversations with a number of different writers to figure out who’s going to be the person to lead that franchise for us," she explains. "[Any rumors about casting being underway are inaccurate.] The first step for us is figuring out who this showrunner is going to be and once we get that locked down, then we can start having those [casting] conversations."
"The tricky part is the first two books, where the kids are on the younger end, around 11 or 12."
When the news broke that this Harry Potter TV series was in the works, HBO & Max Content Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys confirmed the show's budget would be in line with Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon (the latter's first season cost $125 million, so this is going to be a $1+ billion commitment over 10 years).
We're anticipating each book getting a full season each, though the fact the story will play out over a decade means seasons will either drop with more than 12 months between each of them or later instalments will play out across multiple years.
Hopefully, we'll have more details to share with you soon.