The Wizarding World could be expanding to television.
The Hollywood Reporter is stating that sources tell them that Warner Brothers has been having early discussions about a potential Harry Potter franchise spinoff for their HBO Max streaming service.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that executives at the WarnerMedia-backed streamer have engaged in multiple conversations with potential writers exploring various ideas that would bring the beloved property to television. Sources say broad ideas have been discussed as part of the early-stage exploratory meetings.
While it’s news that executives at HBO Max and Warners are engaged in meetings to find a writer and pitch for a Harry Potter TV series, no writers or talent are currently attached as the conversations are still in the extremely early stages and no deals have been made.
So basically, these meetings have been strictly along the lines of the “If we were to do this, what could it be?” variety. I am sure that won’t stop some clickbait driven fan sites from breathlessly proclaiming that this is a thing that will definitely happen. It could very well die tomorrow if Harry Potter creator J. K. Rowling decides that the idea isn’t one she likes.
The news doesn’t come as much of a surprise for two big reasons.
Firstly, Warners has put an extraordinary on HBO Max and developing content for it that will capture and keep news subscribers to the service. To that end they have been developing a number of series spinning off from their DC Comics big screen adaptations, as well as having taken over the TV series previously being produced for Warners DC Universe app. Additionally they have been mining lots of their other intellectual property for new series as evidenced by the announcement of their upcoming Game Of Thrones prequel and Sex In The City follow-up series.
And secondly, as an IP, the Wizarding World of the Harry Potter franchise is a very valuable one for Warner Brothers. Their film adaptations of the original seven book series by Rowling has grossed over $7 billion at the international box office. The studio is also in the midst of a five film prequel series, Fantastic Beasts, set decades before Harry and his friends attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But even these have only begun to scratch the surface of what could be explored in the franchise’s larger setting. A potential series could follow the adult Harry, Ron and Hermione as they begin their careers as Aurors and in the Ministry of Magic. It could follow the adventures of their children as they attend Hogwarts. And yes, this already touched on in the stage play Harry Potter And The Cursed Child, but do you really think that would be the only trouble Harry’s son Albus would get himself into? Conceivably a series could take a tip from the Fantastic Beasts films and set itself in some other time period entirely. There are numerous possibilities, and I wouldn’t be surprised if HBO Max doesn’t ultimately go forward with more than one series.
