It was only a matter of time, right? The writing has been on the wall now since WarnerMedia announced plans for its own exclusive streaming service. Now, one of the studio’s biggest franchises, “Harry Potter,” is coming to HBO Max in the form of a new TV series.
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According to THR, WarnerMedia is in the early stages of figuring out how to bring “Harry Potter” to the streaming world of HBO Max. It doesn’t appear that this is going to be a retelling of the books, however. Instead, the report claims that WarnerMedia is looking to meet with filmmakers and writers for their pitches on how to bring ‘Potter’ to the streaming world, probably as a spinoff of some sort.
Obviously, when approached about this news, HBO Max and WarnerMedia told THR, “There are no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform.” As if they would say anything else.
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As mentioned, this was bound to happen. Billions of dollars have been made thanks to the ‘Harry Potter’ films and its first spinoff, ‘Fantastic Beasts.’ And if we know anything about WarnerMedia (and major studios, in general), if you have a property that fans love, you need to be able to flood all mediums with new content. We’ve already seen this influx of spinoffs on HBO Max when it comes to WarnerMedia’s DC superheroes. “The Batman” and “The Suicide Squad” both have TV series spinoffs arriving on HBO Max soon enough. And let’s not forget that everyone is looking at Disney’s plan with Disney+ and trying to emulate that success. Disney+ has already announced dozens of new TV series and films that are linked to existing or former IPs in some way, including various new “Star Wars” and Marvel Studios TV shows.
All that to say, “Harry Potter” coming to HBO Max is inevitable. It’s going to happen at some point. There are just two questions left worth asking— 1) What is the story that will be told on HBO Max? And 2) How involved will JK Rowling be in the creation/production of the new spinoff?
The first one will be answered soon enough, obviously. However, it’s the second one that might be the most interesting. Is WarnerMedia going to be okay with working with an author that has posted transphobic comments in the past? Can the studio do anything with “Harry Potter” without JK Rowling being involved in some capacity? And lastly, will fans be so happy to see the Wizarding World on HBO Max that they’ll overlook JK Rowling’s involvement? We’ll have to find out.