If spinoffs, theme parks, video games, merchandise, and a Broadway play haven't quite tided you over in the 12 years since the last Harry Potter film was released, good news. Warner Bros. is launching a scripted TV series that will retell the now-iconic story of the boy wizard over a decade. A new cast will sign on to the project with a 10-year commitment "to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five years," according to a Wednesday press release, per the BBC.
The series will be broken into seven seasons, with each one "authentic to the original books," the release reads. Still in the early stages of development, it will air on the Max streaming service—the newly-announced combination of HBO Max and Discovery+. Author JK Rowling will serve as one of the executive producers, guiding a "decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for," per the release. In a statement, she says the new adaptation "will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series."
Rowling has become a controversial figure in recent years for her opposition to Scotland's gender recognition legislation, which sought to allow a person to legally change their gender without a gender dysphoria diagnosis. But Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max content, refused to comment on that Wednesday, per Variety. "That's a very online conversation, very nuanced and complicated and not something we're going to get into," he said. "The Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That's our priority—what's on screen." He added the show's scale would be comparable to Game of Thrones. (More Harry Potter stories.)
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