“This new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years,” said Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content about the project, which he also assured fans would be “a faithful adaptation.”
Initial reports suggested that each season of the series would focus on one book from the Harry Potter book series, which consists of seven novels, but Bloys said the project would last "ten consecutive years," which seems to be the claim of one book per season to refute. For those who say Fantastic Beasts could be used to make ten seasons ten years from now, WBD brass specifically said during the announcement that Fantastic Beasts will not be part of the series.
Regardless, Bloys promised that as the company embarks on its new Harry Potter adventure, "we will do so with the full care and craft of this franchise."
It took a while, as the first announcement was in April 2023, but in recent months Warner Bros. invites a select group of creatives to contribute ideas for what the series could become. They were Martha Hillier, Kathleen Jordan, Tom Moran and Michael Lesslie. Now the streaming service and Warner Bros. Television narrowed it down to Jordan, Moran and newer addition Francesca Gardiner, sources said.
Deadline broke the news last month that Succession writer Francesca Gardiner is among the finalists. Gardiner was a consulting producer on seasons three and four of HBO's Succession. Before creating Jesse Armstrong, she was executive producer of HBO and BBC fantasy co-production His Dark Materials and co-executive producer of AMC's Killing Eve. She also co-wrote series such as Starz's The Rook and Prime Video's The Man in the High Castle.
Jordan created the Netflix series Teenage Bounty Hunters. Jordan is also working with the Orange Is the New Black streamer on The Decameron, which received a series order in 2022.
Tom Moran is a British writer who created the Prime Video series The Devil's Hour, starring Peter Capaldi. He also worked on Prime Video's science fiction series The Feed (2019) and the police drama Wild Bill with Rob Lowe.
It's an interesting mix of Brits and Americans, most of whom have some experience working with streamers and many of whom have led projects in the sci-fi/fantasy space.
We've heard that the group of writers has been commissioned by HBO Max to create presentations for a series that will reflect their take on the well-known property. Rowling is believed to be involved in this presentation process. The trio will be able to work on their presentations over the coming months, with a decision on who gets the job expected in June.
According to David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, the series is expected in 2026.
“We’ve not been shy about our excitement around Harry Potter,” Zaslav told Wall Street analysts on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call. “I was in London a few weeks ago with Casey [Bloys, CEO of HBO] and Channing [Dungey, chairperson of Warner Bros Television] and we spent some real time with JK and her team,” he enthused. “Both sides just thrilled to be reigniting this franchise. Our conversations were great.”
