A ‘Harry Potter’ TV series and the gauntlet of shows coming to HBO Max, er, Max
Warner Bros. Discovery is brandishing its favorite wand, confirming plans for a highly anticipated “Harry Potter” television series, among other high-profile projects for the streaming service formerly known as HBO Max.
The new “Harry Potter” series will be a “faithful adaptation” of J.K. Rowling’s bestselling novels, the company said Wednesday as part of a larger unveiling of its new streaming service. The app, launching May 23, will be named Max, dropping the HBO brand from its moniker.
The “Harry Potter” series was one of many TV projects the company announced for the service, including a “Game of Thrones” prequel (titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight”), a comedy based on “The Big Bang Theory” and a drama derived from the “Conjuring” horror film franchise.
Max represents a major gamble by Warner Bros. Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav to expand its streaming audience beyond the upscale, coastal subscribers who love the HBO brand. Max will include a bevy of content from HBO, Warner Bros. and Discovery brands such as HGTV and TLC.
The Potter series, which does not yet have a title, will be executive produced by Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts. David Heyman, a prolific producer known for the “Harry Potter” films, is in talks to executive produce as well, the company said.
Warner Bros. Discovery concluded that ditching the ‘HBO’ name might give Max more traction with families with children and viewers in America’s heartland.
The planned series is expected to be a decadelong, based on stories from each of Rowling’s books. The series was announced by Casey Bloys, chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content.
“We’re so excited to enter this rich universe and explore some incredible characters in a series format,” Bloys said from a stage on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank.
The Warner Bros. Pictures film studio, which produced the original film franchise, generated billions of dollars in tickets sales from the movies. Potter movies have continued to be a popular draw on television channels, streaming services, video games and with intricate Hogwarts theme park attractions.
A recently released “Harry Potter” video game, “Hogwarts Legacy,” is a huge seller for Warner Bros.’ gaming business, despite some online protests of Rowling’s controversial statements on trans issues.
The TV series is expected to cost hundreds of millions of dollars, and comes after Warner Bros. Discovery has spent a year downsizing, cutting thousands of jobs, eliminating dozens of programs and refinancing its debt.
The company is burdened by nearly more than $50 billion in debt, most of which was needed to finance last year’s merger between WarnerMedia and Discovery.
The cancellation of Latino programming and cuts to CNN were cited by the Democrats, who said the merger is ‘hollowing out an iconic American studio.’
Bloys declined to say how much the Potter show would cost, but said it would be at the scale, “or higher,” of epic fantasy shows such as the “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon.”
The Potter TV series represents one of Zaslav’s biggest swing for the fences in his long career.
The 63-year-old executive, who ran Discovery for nearly 15 years, assumed control of the merged media company a year ago. Zaslav is hoping to grow subscribers to the company’s streaming service.
There have been rumors of efforts to create a TV show for more than two years, but previous efforts became bogged down.
The last “Harry Potter” film installment, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” debuted a dozen years ago, in 2011. Warner Bros. later produced a series of prequels, starting with 2016’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which delivered diminishing returns at the box office.
Rowling has lately become a controversial figure because of statements that many LGBTQ advocates, and some former “Harry Potter” cast members, say are anti-trans.
Bloys talked around a reporter’s question about Rowling’s views, saying that the company is focused on “what’s on screen.”
“Obviously the ‘Harry Potter’ story is incredibly formative and positive and about love and self acceptance,” Bloys said. “So that’s our priority is what’s on the screen.”
In addition to announcing new “Game of Thrones” and “Big Bang Theory” series, Warner Bros. Discovery teased upcoming shows such as the DC series “The Penguin,” HBO’s “True Detective: Night Country,” “Smartless: On the Road” and Chip and Joanna Gaines’ “Fixer Upper: The Hotel.”
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