‘Harry Potter’ Series A Go With J.K. Rowling Executive Producing, Set For 10-Year Run On Max
As expected, a Max Original Harry Potter series was made official today at the Warner Bros. Discovery presser with author J.K. Rowling executive producing. The series, which will stream worldwide on Max, will be a faithful take on her classic Harry Potter books with a new cast.
There will be a new cast and this series is billed as being a “decade-long one,” authentic to the books.
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Beamed Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav after the announcement, “My wife and I, we read (the Harry Potter books) to each of our three kids….It’s really moving, for ten consecutive years, people will see Harry Potter on HBO; I mean it’s really something.”
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Zaslav clearly went off-script in his remarks, mixing up HBO and Max, the home of the new Harry Potter series.
Since Warners launched the Max streaming service, there’s always been a goal to exploit Warner’s biggest franchise for streaming. Warner Bros Discovery Boss David Zaslav, upon taking the reigns of the merger last year, met with Rowling several times in the UK. He’s even spoken up in support of the author who has been involved in an ongoing controversy over her comments on transgender issues.
“We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” said Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content. “Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, 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.”
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“Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series,” said J.K. Rowling.
Max in association with Brontë Film and TV, and Warner Bros. Television. Executive produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts. David Heyman is currently in talks to executive produce.
Rowling’s Wizarding World, spawned from her seven-bestselling Harry Potter books at 600M copies worldwide, spans retail stores, theme parks, a global stage play, and a $7.7 billion global grossing feature franchise as well as the $1.8 billion grossing spinoff Fantastic Beasts movies.
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