During Warner Bros. Discovery’s fourth-quarter earnings call, CEO David Zaslav touted the various franchises that WBD owns and operates. One of those franchises was Harry Potter. He espoused the studio’s commitment to the Wizarding World, including announcing that J.K. Rowling would be involved with the upcoming Harry Potter TV series they’ve been working on.
“We’ve not been shy about our excitement around ‘Harry Potter.’ The last film was made more than a dozen years ago. I was in London a few weeks ago with Casey [Bloys, CEO of HBO] and Channing [Dungey, chairperson of Warner Bros Television] and we spent some real time with JK and her team. Both sides just thrilled to be reigniting this franchise. Our conversations were great, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead.”
We haven’t had much in the way of specifics for the series, but Zaslav said the show is aiming to debut on Max in 2026. The plan is to adapt a book per season over seven seasons. He continued with this.
“We can’t wait to share a decade of new stories with fans around the world on Max. We’re aiming for a debut in 2026.”
The studio is still in the process of finding a writer and showrunner, and hasn’t announced who is doing those roles. The Wizarding World franchise hasn’t seen an actual Harry Potter entry since 2011, but went the preqel/side-story route with Fantastic Beasts. That franchise didn’t hit as big as WB had wanted with issues regarding box office and cast members. The franchise was supposed to have five movies, and only got to three.
Then of course, there’s the problem with J.K. Rowling and her controversial statements and attitudes regarding the trans community.
Outside of movies and TV, the Harry Potter franchise has been massively successful for theme parks, with Universal Studios opening lands across their major parks, including a new themed area for Epic Universe in 2025.
We’ll keep you updated as we get more information about this Harry Potter series.
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