Warner Bros is nearing a deal on a Harry Potter TV series, a bunch of places are reporting (Variety/Bloomberg/etc). Going to be on HBO with each season representing a book.

Warner Bros going all in on trying to make Harry Potter a cornerstone of their empire.

Wonder how much the deal will be for.

-Variety

 

I’m surprised to hear they’re just going to be re-telling the books again. Maybe because Fantastic Beasts did so poorly. Makes me feel a little disappointed.

 

Well, I hope it does well. A show being well made could only be good for the fandom overall.

I fully expect a dumpster fire like Obi-wan or something, but here’s hoping it’s not shit.

 

Unless it transitions mediums into animation, I don't want it. It's only been 12 years since DHp2... that is way too soon to rehash a live action adaptation.

Simply put:

No thanks.

Give me a Founders series instead.

 

Young Dumbledore would be great, especially because you can tie it with Hogwarts Legacy/same general time period.

Founders would also be cool.

 

I've heard that HBO was looking to make Hogwarts Legacy into a TV series, not redo the book series:

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hogwarts-legacy-tv-show-works-141856900.html

I really don't want a TV series of the books... they aren't made for that kind of format. I don't even know how you could squeeze 8-9 hours of content from the first or second books.

 

The reporting could definitely be wrong (we’ve been hearing about talks of an HBO show for a while and rumors of what it could be about), but Bloomberg’s scoop today is that it’ll be a retelling of the books:

All the articles that I’m seeing, including Variety, are just reporting that Bloomberg is reporting this.

Maybe it’s wrong. Who knows. And maybe HBO will give us some new/different POVs to supplement the book plots. Maybe we’ll see more conversations Dumbledore is having, or what Dean Thomas gets up to, etc.

 

Apparently more deets on April 12th.

 

I'm really hoping it's not a retread of the books. There's lots of more interesting things they could do instead, like Voldemort's first rise, Dumbledore v Grindelwald, or <insert vaguely interesting Pottermore entry here>

 

Yeah, the "redo of the books" is definitely the most boring and safe choice they can do -- which is why it's happening.

I personally hate prequels, so my personal wish would be a new story set after the original series. The original epilogue happened 5 years ago (1998 + 19 years). Would be a great opportunity to explore with the original cast potentially making cameos, while still doing something unique.

Oh well.

 

I really wish that they'd just stop. I liked the books, I liked the movies, and I've hated pretty much every piece of licenced media since, with the sole exception of the first Fantastic Beasts movie which was still completely unnecessary. Obviously WB is going to want to keep milking their cash cow, but imo they should find some other IP to adapt, Mistborn maybe.

 

In principle I have no problem with a TV show re-telling the story of the books... if they use it as a way to deliver the story in a different way.

If they just do it as a faithful retelling of the books, largely maintaining accuracy, sticking to the events depicted in the books... then I will probably still enjoy it, provided the production value is high enough, I like the art direction, and the child acting is not cringe. But if they take that approach I will consider it a bit of a wasted opportunity. Pretty much just very expensive fan art.

I would hope that they would use the episodic TV format to tell the story in a different way, fleshing out the setting and characters and using the events of the books as a framework around which they can build original material - a lot more of day to day Hogwarts life, magic, character interactions, etc. They could really go for a more in depth relationship between Harry and Dumbledore, for example.

That said, if the story starts with PS in Year 1 then I think you are inherently limited in how interesting you can make day to day school life. So I do think an original story set at Hogwarts, perhaps during the modern day with occasional cameos from the adult versions of book characters, would be the better way to go to tell a "Hogwarts drama". Probably starting no earlier than 5th year so the characters are old enough that you can tell romance plotlines without it feeling too juvenile.

 

This is inescapably be a 10 episode per season show. That won't give them enough time to really explore and expand the world.

Probably going to end up being like Last Of Us where it's a pretty straight forward retelling of the plot, with tiny sprinkles of extra content here and there.

I sort of miss network length shows, all the padding you had to do to fill them all really made the world feel more alive.

Shows like Wednesday and Lockwood and Co. would have been so much better if we had 12-14 extra episodes of the characters just living their lives and fighting a monster of the week. Like Star Trek, Stargate and Buffy did.

 

lmao, Hogwarts Legacy all over again. Joy.

I've a feeling that, as long as the parks keep printing money, they'll keep releasing new mainline content every 10-20 years to get new fans in.

 

I'll be content with it as long as it's atleast decent.


I really don't mind the fact that we're only 12 years away from the movies if it does end up being a rehash.

 

Bold choice to have Rowling anywhere near this considering her shenanigans these last few years.

 

Rowling should troll and say she included the first trans character in a children’s story with Tonks and the first angry at the world incel in Snape. That ought to go over well.

As for the series I’m pretty stoked. I’ll watch it. I imagine they are looking to capitalize on the success of Hogwarts: Legacy and bring in a whole new generation of young fans addicted to social media and incapable of sitting down long enough to read a book. If it’s a hit we may get those spins offs like the rise of Voldemort/the Marauder years, the founders, or a sequel series.

If they are going to go 10 episodes hopefully they take some time for world building and show magic doing more than just throwing people backwards.

 

How so? The books, especially first ones don't have enough material for 10 hours. They would need to expand the world and characters if they want one book per season. And I would solve Taure's problems by simply making adult characters more important from the beginning and giving them their own adventures.

 

The Cursed Child TV show is the way.