Harry Potter (TV series)

Harry Potter is an upcoming British and American fantasy television series ordered for HBO. The series is based on the series of  fantasy books by British author J. K. Rowling. Produced by HBO Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, Brontë Film & TV, and Heyday Films, the series stars Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, with Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger. The main cast also includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.

Plans for a new Harry Potter series became public in January 2021, with production set to last a decade as part of a faithful adaptation of the books. With the creative team including Francesca Gardiner as showrunner and Mark Mylod as director, casting for major roles began in November 2024, and confirmation came by April 2025. A casting call for the main roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione was issued in September 2024. After considering 32,000 actors, McLaughlin, Stout, and Stanton were announced as cast in May 2025. Main filming began that July at Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England. 

At first set for an HBO Max release, the series shifted to an HBO release by June 2024. Harry Potter is scheduled to premiere on HBO in early or mid-2027, with the first season consisting of eight episodes.

 Cast and characters 

 Main 
 Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, an 11-year-old orphan raised by his cruel uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia. When he is accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he learns of his own fame as a wizard, having survived his parents' murder at the hands of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort as an infant.
 Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, Harry's best friend at Hogwarts and the second youngest member of the Weasley wizarding family.
 Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, a Muggle-born witch from London; she is a clever student in Hogwarts classes, and becomes the trio's brains. Stanton was also cast as the voice of a younger Hermione Granger in the upcoming audiobook adaptations of the first three books.
 John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and a famous wizard who mentors Harry.
 Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Professor of Transfiguration at Hogwarts and the Head of Gryffindor House.
 Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Professor of Potions at Hogwarts and the Head of Slytherin House who has a past with Harry's parents.
 Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, a half-Giant and groundskeeper at Hogwarts.

 Recurring 
 Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts.
 Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, the mean-spirited caretaker of Hogwarts. Whitehouse previously portrayed Sir Cadogan in the 2004 film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, though his scenes essentially did not make the final cut.
 Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic.
 Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, a Slytherin student at Hogwarts who soon becomes an enemy of Harry.
 Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Draco's father who is proud of his family's "pure" wizarding blood.
 Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Harry's aunt, with whom he goes to live following the death of his parents.
 Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, with whom he lives following the death of his parents.
 Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Ron's mother.
 Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, a fellow Gryffindor student at Hogwarts.
 Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, a fellow Gryffindor student at Hogwarts.
 Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown, a fellow Gryffindor student at Hogwarts.
 Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, a fellow Gryffindor student at Hogwarts.
 Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Harry's cousin.
 Louise Brealey as Madam Hooch, the broomstick flying instructor at Hogwarts.
 Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander, a wandmaker who owns Ollivanders in Diagon Alley.
 Gracie Cochrane as Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister.
 Tristan Harland as Fred Weasley, Ron's older brother and George's twin.
 Gabriel Harland as George Weasley, Ron's older brother and Fred's twin.
 Ruari Spooner as Percy Weasley, Ron's older brother and a Hogwarts prefect.
 Warwick Davis as Filius Flitwick, Professor of Charms at Hogwarts and the Head of Ravenclaw House. Davis repeats his role from the film series.
 Leigh Gill as Griphook, a goblin employed at the Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
 Elijah Oshin as Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor student at Hogwarts.
 Finn Stephens as Vincent Crabbe, a fellow Slytherin student at Hogwarts.
 William Nash as Gregory Goyle, a fellow Slytherin student at Hogwarts.
 Sirine Saba as Pomona Sprout, Professor of Herbology at Hogwarts and the Head of Hufflepuff House.
 Richard Durden as Cuthbert Binns, ghost-Professor of History of Magic at Hogwarts.
 Bríd Brennan as Madame Poppy Pomfrey, the matron of Hogwarts hospital wing.
 Mickey McAnulty as Piers Polkiss, Dudley's friend.
 Lambert Wilson as Nicolas Flamel, an alchemist who gained eternal life through his creation of the Philosopher's stone.
 Marthe Keller as Perenelle Flamel, Nicolas' wife

In his first public comments to the BBC, McLaughlin called it a "dream role" as fan of the books. Stanton was also announced as the voice of the younger Hermione in a new audio book series, and said in an official clip from Audible that she had similarities with her character. Cochrane had earlier said that the original Goblet of Fire movie was a favourite of hers, in addition to being a fan of the books. 

Lithgow agreed there would be controversy over him playing the role as an American, when the original movie series only cast British or Irish cast members at Rowling's request, and said that he would work with a dialect coach in addition to first reading the books after he was cast. He said: "I don't know the Harry Potter canon by heart as 98% of the world's population seems to," but said that in talks with the producers he was interested by how "as the kids grew older [in the books], you learn more and more about Dumbledore, and he became a much more surprising, complicated character."

Lox Pratt said the new series would be able to show more of the secondary characters' background and home lives. Flynn noted that his character Lucius Malfoy was in the first season of the show even though he was not in the first book, and so was only working a few days.
 Production 
Harry Potter is a co-production by HBO, Warner Bros. Television, Brontë Film and TV, and Heyday Films. Showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod serve as executive producers alongside J. K. Rowling, Neil Blair, Ruth Kenley-Letts, and David Heyman.

 Background 

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by Rowling from 1997 to 2007. From 2001 to 2011, these were adapted into eight movies, with the final book, Deathly Hallows, split into two feature-length movies. Both the books and movies have had a notable impact on popular culture. The books have been translated into more than eighty languages, and the movie series is the fourth highest-grossing movie franchise of all time, with the eight movies released together earning over $7.7 billion worldwide.

 Development 
In January 2021, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that a Harry Potter television series was in early development and that HBO Max executives were looking for potential writers. However, HBO Max and Warner Bros. denied the report, saying there was no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform. By May 2022, reports circulated about an announced meeting between Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav and Rowling and their discussion about future HBO Max projects set within the Wizarding World universe.

In December 2022, it was reported that Warner Bros. Television CEO Channing Dungey shared plans to expand the Wizarding World franchise. In April 2023, at a Warner Bros. investors meeting, it was announced that the series was in development. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO Zaslav revealed plans for the series during a presentation for the new streaming service Max, the successor to HBO Max. The series would span a decade, and each season would be "faithful" to the book series. A search for a showrunner was underway, while David Heyman was in talks to executive produce after serving as a producer of the movie series. The first season is expected to cover the entirety of the first book, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997). After Rowling was confirmed to be an executive producer on the series, this caused backlash due to the controversy she previously attracted over her views on transgender issues, but HBO and HBO Max chairman and CEO Casey Bloys confirmed her involvement. She first visited the set in November 2025. Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts were set as executive producers on the series by April 2023.

Deadline Hollywood stated that by February 2024, there was a shortlist of three candidates to be the series' creative leader, including Succession writer Francesca Gardiner. In June, Gardiner was hired as the showrunner and writer, and Mark Mylod was hired to direct several episodes of the series. Moreover, both of them and Heyman were announced as executive producers. As part of a strategy shift for content, Harry Potter was moved from Max streaming to HBO network release in June 2024. The series is planned to be produced for ten consecutive years, according to comments Bloys and Zaslav made in 2023 and 2025.

 Writing 
Andy Greenwald, Bijan Sheibani, Josephine Gardiner, Laura Neal, Martha Hillier, Ripley Parker, Sam Holcroft, and Ted Cohen serve as writers on the series, alongside Francesca Gardiner.  Rowling offered positive feedback on the scripts of the first two episodes on social media in June 2025, adding she had "worked closely" with the writers; however, she was not going to get any writing credits. By November 2025, writing for the second season had already begun.

 Casting 
Led by casting directors Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, in September 2024, a casting call was released looking for child actors to play Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. They were searching for children aged 9–11 as of April 2025 who were residents of the UK and Ireland, writing that agents were to submit "qualified performers, without regard to ethnicity, sex, disability, race, sexual orientation, and gender identity". 32,000 actors auditioned for those roles.

From November to December 2024, various actors were being considered for roles in the series. These included Mark Rylance and Mark Strong for Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu for Severus Snape, Sharon Horgan and Rachel Weisz for Minerva McGonagall, and Brett Goldstein for Rubeus Hagrid. By December, a decision on the casting of Harry, Ron, and Hermione was expected to be reached "relatively soon". In February 2025, John Lithgow entered final negotiations to portray Dumbledore, and he announced his casting soon after. In March, Essiedu was nearing a deal to portray Snape, while Janet McTeer and Nick Frost entered negotiations to play McGonagall and Hagrid. In April 2025, Lithgow, McTeer, Essiedu, and Frost were confirmed to star in the series, with Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse joining the cast in recurring roles as Quirinus Quirrell and Argus Filch. It has been noted about Essiedu's casting as Snape that "his appearance (…) is not close to book accurate". 

In May 2025, Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton were cast as Potter, Weasley, and Granger. The following month, the additional cast announced were Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Leo Earley as Seamus Finnigan, Alessia Leoni as Parvati Patil, Sienna Moosah as Lavender Brown, Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, and Bertie Carvel as Cornelius Fudge. In July, Rory Wilmot and Amos Kitson were cast in the roles of Neville Longbottom and Dudley Dursley, respectively, while Louise Brealey joined as Madam Hooch, and Anton Lesser was cast as Garrick Ollivander.

In August, Gracie Cochrane, Tristan Harland, Gabriel Harland, and Ruari Spooner were revealed to have been cast as Ginny Weasley, Fred Weasley, George Weasley, and Percy Weasley, respectively.

It was announced as part of "Back to Hogwarts" day on 1 September 2025 that Warwick Davis would reprise his role as Professor Flitwick, in addition to other casting announcements. Additionally, Leigh Gill, Elijah Oshin, Finn Stephens, William Nash, Sirine Saba, Richard Durden, and Bríd Brennan were cast as Griphook, Dean Thomas, Vincent Crabbe, Gregory Goyle, Pomona Sprout, Cuthbert Binns and Poppy Pomfrey, respectively. In October, Lambert Wilson joined the cast as Nicolas Flamel and Marthe Keller as Perenelle Flamel.

Both Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, who played Harry and Ron in the original movie series, said they had written letters to the young actors playing their characters.

Lithgow said he chose to stay in the role despite his disagreement with some of Rowling's views, adding that he had not met her and suggested that she was not "really involved in this production at all."

 Design 
Holly Waddington serves as the costume designer, while Mara LePere-Schloop serves as the production designer.

 Filming 
Main filming began on 14 July 2025, under the working title Dark Train, at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden in Watford, Hertfordshire, where the original eight Harry Potter movies were also filmed, with Mylod directing and Adriano Goldman as cinematographer. A temporary school for the child actors was built at the studio, designed to be used by up to 600 pupils. In May 2025, sets for the series had reportedly already begun to be built. That same month, the film crew spent over a week at the Île de Sein in Brittany, filming around the Tévennec Lighthouse. On 14 July 2025, the first photo from production was released, showing McLaughlin dressed in character. On 17 July, filming was spotted taking place at the London Zoo, with McLaughlin, Powley, Rigby, Kitson, and Mickey McAnulty dressed in character.

On 18 August, filming took place at Borough High Street, in Southwark, London, with McLaughlin and Frost present. On 24 and 25 August, filming occurred at King's Cross station with the actors playing the Weasley family. In mid-September, filming took place in Hoddesdon with Daniel Rigby present, and at Wardown Park in Luton with actors believed to be portraying Lily Potter and James Potter. The following week, Deadline confirmed a report that William, Prince of Wales and Catherine, Princess of Wales, along with their children Prince George of Wales, Princess Charlotte of Wales, and Prince Louis of Wales had visited the Hogsmeade Station set built at Windsor Great Park. In early October, scenes were shot in Cornwall, including Cadgwith, Carnglaze Caverns and Kynance Cove. On 21 October, filming took place on a rooftop in Skipton. By November, production took place in Ashridge with numerous cast members, which is also where the Quidditch World Cup scenes from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) were filmed.

Filming for the first season is expected to last until mid-2026, with production on the second season set to begin a few months thereafter. In November 2025, Bloys restated his intention to film these seasons back-to-back.

 Post-production 
Alexis Wajsbrot serves as the visual effects supervisor.

 Music 
Hans Zimmer and his music company, Bleeding Fingers Music, had been revealed to compose the score by January 2026.

 Release 
The show will be released on HBO in the United States and is expected to debut in early or mid-2027 with the first series consisting of eight episodes. It was originally slated for release on the streaming service HBO Max.

 References 

 Other websites 


Category:American English-language television shows
Category:American fantasy drama television series
Category:American television series
Category:American television spin-offs
Category:British English-language television shows
Category:British fantasy drama television series
Category:HBO original programming
Category:Television series by Home Box Office
Category:Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios
Category:Television series set in castles
Category:Television series about wizards
Category:Television shows based on works by J. K. Rowling
Category:Television shows shot at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden
Category:Upcoming American television series
Category:Upcoming British television series
Category:Wizarding World
Category:Works based on Harry Potter