Warner Bros. is nearing a deal to provide a live-action streaming collection for HBO Max based mostly on the Harry Potter ebook collection, in line with Bloomberg.
The outlet says the plan is to have seven seasons, every centered on one of many novels. Whereas the Harry Potter movies had been total important and business successes, they naturally needed to lower a good quantity of fabric to suit into roughly two-hour runtimes. Due to this fact, Warner Bros. is intending to make use of the TV format for a extra in-depth exploration of the storylines of the books on HBO Max. (In Canada, most HBO Max originals stream on Crave, so presumably, this collection would as nicely.)
Presently, Warner Bros. is alleged to nonetheless be in negotiations with Harry Potter creator J.Okay. Rowling. Whereas she’s not anticipated to be a showrunner, Rowling would nonetheless be hooked up as a producer to make sure the variation is trustworthy to her novels. A part of Rowling’s bigger take care of the leisure big requires her to log out on any Wizarding World-related initiatives.
The final mainline Harry Potter movie was 2011’s Deathly Hallows — Half 2, though three spin-off prequel movies within the Implausible Beasts collection — all of which have been written or co-written by Rowling — have been launched within the years since. That stated, reception to the Implausible Beasts collection has been middling, with final 12 months’s Secrets and techniques of Dumbledore even garnering damaging evaluations whereas changing into the lowest-grossing film in your entire ‘Wizarding World’ franchise. Due to this fact, it is sensible that Warner Bros. would return to the principle Harry Potter collection, particularly in a nostalgia-fueled trade.
Nevertheless, information of a possible Potter reboot has been met with a blended response, with some stating that we’re barely 10 years faraway from the Daniel Radcliffe-led films. Past that, although, the Wizarding World is now considered as tainted by many amid ongoing controversies surrounding Rowling herself.
Since 2019, the writer has been making repeated feedback about transgender individuals which have been condemned for serving to to unfold hatred and abuse towards an already marginalized neighborhood. Members of the LGBTQ+ neighborhood have criticized Rowling for her anti-trans rhetoric, as have Harry Potter solid members like Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who distanced themselves from the writer whereas expressing assist for trans individuals. Most lately, Rowling led many to name for a boycott of Warner Bros. best-selling Hogwarts Legacy, a online game based mostly on the Wizarding World, on account of the truth that she would in the end revenue from its success.
Ought to the HBO Max collection undergo, it stays to be seen who else will likely be concerned and, extra importantly, how Rowling herself may have an effect on the venture.
Picture credit score: Warner Bros.
Supply: Bloomberg