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Tag: Harry Potter

  • Max Sets Date for ‘Harry Potter’ Streaming Series Debut

    Max Sets Date for ‘Harry Potter’ Streaming Series Debut

    As part of the rollout of their new and improved streaming service, Max, in April 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed the rumored development of a streaming series based on J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter novels. Warner Bros. Discovery is working closely with Rowling on the series which the author said “will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series.” Nearly a year has passed since the announcement and other than a recent comment by Channing Dungey, chairperson of Warner Bros Television, revealed that the studio was meeting with writers in their search for a showrunner, not much has surfaced about the new adaptation. Now, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav has provided some info about when the first season of the series can be expected to hit Max.

    During an earnings call, Zaslav indicated that the first season of the news series is currently planned to hit Max in 2026. “We’ve not been shy about our excitement around Harry Potter. We spent some real time with JK and her team,” said Zaslav of a recent meeting in London with the author. “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 can’t wait to share a decade of new stories with fans around the world on Max.”

    The stories from each of Rowling’s Harry Potter books will become a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a new cast 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 25 years. Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.

    According to Variety, the current plan is for the new series to span 7 seasons which would, of course, mean each of the 7 books would be adapted into a single season. Once the studio decides on a showrunner, the casting process could become a cultural phenomenon.

    Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World. In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, this new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years.

    Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content, on the development of the Harry Potter streaming series for Max

    Source: Variety

  • Harry Potter Streaming Series in the Works at Warner Bros. Discovery

    Harry Potter Streaming Series in the Works at Warner Bros. Discovery

    As part of a series of announcements accompanying the reveal of the new title of their combined streaming service, Max, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed the rumored development of a Harry Potter streaming series. The series is said to “to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way,” according to Casey Bloys the Chairman and CEO, HBO & Max Content.

    The stories from each of Rowling’s Harry Potter books will become a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a new cast 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 25 years. Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.

    Official Description via Max

    “Harry Potter is a cultural phenomenon and it is clear there is such an enduring love and thirst for the Wizarding World,” said Bloys. “In partnership with Warner Bros. Television and J.K. Rowling, this new Max Original series will dive deep into each of the iconic books that fans have continued to enjoy for all of these years.” While Warner Bros. is still searching for both a showrunner and writer for the Max streaming series, Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling is on board as an executive producer of the project.

    Max’s commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I’m looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long form television series.

    J.K. Rowling on her involvement in the Harry Potter streaming series in development at Max

    Source: THR

  • Warner Bros. Eyeing a ‘Harry Potter Revival as an HBO Max Series

    Warner Bros. Eyeing a ‘Harry Potter Revival as an HBO Max Series

    The Wizarding World has lost a lot of steam with its latest Fantastic Beast entry, and it seems that Warner Bros. is trying to bring back the magic, as they are currently eyeing a new adaptation of the iconic Harry Potter books. This time around, however, it won’t be a new set of films but rather an ongoing series for HBO Max that would recount all books. The only troubling reveal is: J.K. Rowling may be involved to produce.

    While it makes sense that the author of the original work would be involved, Rowling has become quite infamous for her views online. It has gotten to a point where stars of the original have quite openly spoken out against her beliefs and the troubles that come with it. It seems that her involvement is due to her creative control over the work.

    The project is among the many ideas that WBD has without any talent involved. So, it is in the very early stages and once they move forward, they’ll likely focus on trying to add a writer that would work alongside Rowling to bring this series to life for the streaming service. The plan, for now, seems to adapt one book per season, which would lead to around seven seasons’ worth of stories to explore.

    In a way, it’s not too surprising as WBD has also been quite vocal about wanting to revive its “big IPs” in the past such as recent movements on bringing back The Lord of the Rings with its original creative team involved, or at least in talks to return. So, they are trying to recapture that magic again and push the franchise back into the spotlight. Perhaps moving it to HBO Max is also a way to give it time before its cinematic potential is revived. Just a shame they didn’t create their own story in Hogwarts to make it stand out.

    Source: Deadline, Bloomberg

  • ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Passes 12 Million Units in Just 2 Weeks

    ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Passes 12 Million Units in Just 2 Weeks

    It seems that people have been truly itching for a true Harry Potter experience, as Warner Bros. Games’ recent release of Hogwarts Legacy has seemingly already sold 12 million units within its first two weeks. As such, the game has already earned a whopping $850M in global sales across PlayStation 5, XBox Series X, and PC.

    As such, it is the biggest launch ever for Warner Bros. Discovery’s gaming division, as it has also set a new record on Twitch with 1.28M peak concurrent viewers during its launch window. The game already has shown quite the player engagement at 280 hours played since its launch. With so much discourse surrounding Hogwarts Legacy, it also had a strong effect on other Wizarding World products according to WBD.

    Additionally, there has been an increase of global franchise fan engagement overall with Wizarding World Digital garnering 300% higher traffic over the normal monthly unique visitor average for the first 10 days of February.

    Avalanche Software had the honor of developing the game and is likely already fast-tracking its next entry in the Hogwarts Legacy franchise, as a sequel seems quite definite at this rate. Of course, the discourse should also not ignore the PR nightmare that is J.K. Rowling‘s very public anti-trans rhetoric as the franchise continues to try and distance itself from its original creator.

    Source: Variety

  • RUMOR: Warner Bros. May Reboot ‘Harry Potter’ With New Cast

    RUMOR: Warner Bros. May Reboot ‘Harry Potter’ With New Cast

    Geminio! In the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, this is the “Doubling Charm” used to duplicate any given object. If rumors are to be believed, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) may be looking to use it on the very franchise it originates from. According to a new report from industry insider Valliant Renegade, WBD wants to reboot the core Harry Potter films with a new cast in the next three-to-five years. The move would come after the company’s high-profile Fantastic Beasts prequels failed with fans, critics, and the box office, resulting in a halt on production of the final two planned entries.

    Valliant Renegade claims WBD has too much invested in the Harry Potter property, which they reportedly call “The Wizarding Division” internally, to let it slip away with Fantastic Beasts. As such, the studio has become willing to make the massive leap and begin anew with the characters and concepts that put the franchise on the map in the first place. Their rationale is, according to Valliant, that the fans of the original novel adaptations have aged past going to see the films and it is therefore time to reignite the passion in a new generation of moviegoers. They would like to make Harry Potter an “evergreen” property.

    As ambitious as this sounds, Valliant warns it’s not yet close to actually happening. WBD is apparently searching for a “James Gunn individual” who would shepherd the entirety of “The Wizarding Division”, and there have not been any talks as of now. Renegade also says that the reboot would likely not be an exact retelling of the classic story, with WBD exploring “many different ways” to bring back the cornerstone names and elements associated with Harry Potter. However, the exact method they’ll use to reboot the franchise is still undecided, if any of this is actually happening at all.

    Source: ScreenGeek

  • Warner Bros. Looking to Adapt ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’

    Warner Bros. Looking to Adapt ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’

    It would seem the Fantastic Beasts films just aren’t cutting it for David Zaslav and the folks at Warner Bros. Studios. The Wizarding World, as it’s now officially called by fans and creatives, has been a staple franchise for Warner Bros. since Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released in 2001. Throughout eight movies, adapting seven books, Daniel Radcliffe‘s iconic young protagonist became a cornerstone of pop culture. As such, when the original series of films ended with 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, it felt less like a matter of “will the character return?” and more like a matter of “when?”. Sure enough, over a decade later, Warner Bros. wants to take a stab at reviving the Potter brand.

    According to a new report from Puck News, Warner Bros. CEO and President Zaslav is looking into developing a feature film project based on Jack Thorne‘s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The legacy sequel, billed as “the eighth story in the Harry Potter series,” was originally crafted as a stage show for London’s West End and Broadway in New York City, and focuses on an adventure between an adult Potter and his youngest son, Albus Severus. Franchise creator J.K. Rowling came up with the story, and Thorne wrote the script. It debuted to the public as a two-part play in 2016, receiving widespread critical acclaim but flopping hard with the Harry Potter fandom. Since then, the production has been shortened and restaged as a single show in the United States.

    Rumors have swirled for years that Warner Bros. would eventually make a Cursed Child project with the original series’ cast returning to their roles. Puck claims that, with the recent financial failures of the Fantastic Beasts movies, Zaslav would like to bring back the Potter name and finally make that happen. The report states that former Warner Bros. Chairman Toby Emmerich also wanted to adapt Cursed Child as a two-film event, but was never able to get the idea off the ground. Whether or not the company’s latest regime can create its own magic is still very much up in the air, considering they will first need the approval of a former cast and current creator who have all voiced their resistance to a Cursed Child project in the past.

    Source: Puck

  • ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Future Unclear After ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’

    ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Future Unclear After ‘The Secrets of Dumbledore’

    Finally, the third entry of the Fantastic Beasts franchise is making its way to cinemas. The Harry Potter spinoff, however, has been fighting an uphill battle as an onslaught of controversies may have ended up completely derailing the franchise’s future. What was originally envisioned as the third in five entries could end up becoming its final entry if its box office doesn’t prove to be what Warner Bros. was hoping to see with this franchise. In a new piece by Variety, it is revealed that the fourth entry hasn’t started work on its screenplay for the untitled fourth entry.

    Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock referenced that this franchise was meant to be “their Star Wars franchise” but hasn’t been “behaving like one.” The second entry, The Crime of Grindelwald, was received poorly and ended up leading to the third entry getting postponed. COVID didn’t help matters, as it was further pushed back. Then the various controversies started piling on, such as Johnny Depp leaving the franchise due to the various allegations by Amber Heard. As production started, he was swiftly replaced by Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen.

    Yet, that wasn’t all, as the creator of J.K. Rowling, who also worked on the screenplays of these films, was becoming quite the polarizing figure online due to her controversial views on sex and gender. Ann Sarnoff, who supervised the Wizard World franchise, recently also left ahead of the Discovery merger. Now, Ezra Miller has also been hit with various disorderly conduct and harassment suits, which continue to pile onto the controversy pile. The recent announcement that LGBTQ references were cut from The Secrets of Dumbledore for its Chinese release may just be the icing on the cake of controversies at this point. As it stands, it’s unclear what the future has in store for the Wizard World and if the Fantastic Beasts franchise will continue at all.

    Source: Variety

  • LGBTQ References Cut from ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ for Chinese Release

    LGBTQ References Cut from ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ for Chinese Release

    There’s been quite the controversy surrounding the way film production studios have handled their international releases. As China remains a strong supporter of the international box office gross–even if recent numbers have been adding some questions regarding its profitability–studios have adapted their films for a release in the Middle Kingdom. Of course, they have very strict guidelines and only allow a certain amount of films into the country. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was among the lucky candidates, but it looks like it came at a cost.

    Warner Bros. has cut the LGBTQ references in its film so that it can release the film in China. While supposedly they only cut six seconds of dialogue, which includes the lines “because I was in love with you” and “the summer Gellert and I fell in love.” Fantastic Beasts didn’t make a secret of the relationship between Dumbledore and Grindelwald, but it seems the studio still decided to move forward with adopting the film for that release. Warner Bros. has released a statement on their decision:

    As a studio, we’re committed to safeguarding the integrity of every film we release, and that extends to circumstances that necessitate making nuanced cuts in order to respond sensitively to a variety of in-market factors. Our hope is to release our features worldwide as released by their creators but historically we have faced small edits made in local markets.

    There have been many accusations of studios deliberately keeping LGBTQ references to a minimum so that they are easy to edit out for specific markets, which forbid it. Some films have stood by their productions, such as Marvel Studio’s sticking to its guns to not adapting their release of Eternals, which has an openly gay character, to stay true to the story and its director’s vision. Yet, Disney has also been in the spotlight for censoring or generally pushing back on LGBTQ elements planned for Pixar releases. In the case of Fantastic Beasts, Warner Bros. moved ahead with the adaptation but the film ended up opening at a lower box office in the market than its two predecessors.

    Source: The Guardian

  • Daniel Radcliffe Has No Interest in Returning to ‘Harry Potter’ Anytime Soon

    Daniel Radcliffe Has No Interest in Returning to ‘Harry Potter’ Anytime Soon

    Not too long ago, Chris Columbus talked about adapting the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play into films. The excitement was fresh after the original actors got back together for an HBO Max anniversary celebrating the Harry Potter franchise. Many assumed that the return of the original cast would open up the possibility of them returning, but it looks like Daniel Radcliffe has no real interest to do so. In an interview with New York Times, he talked about

    This isn’t the answer that anybody’s going to want, but I think I was so able to go back and enjoy it because it’s not a part of my day-to-day life anymore. I’m getting to a point where I feel like I made it out of “Potter” OK and I’m really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life.

    Daniel Radcliffe

    He goes on to make a comparison to how long it took before the actors of the original Star Wars trilogy returned to their iconic roles.

    I’m never going to say never, but the “Star Wars” guys had like 30, 40 years before they went back. For me, it’s only been 10. It’s not something I’m really interested in doing right now.

    Daniel Radcliffe

    Sadly, it seems anyone hoping to see The Cursed Child get adapted at some point will be disappointed. There’s always a chance that Radcliffe potentially changes his mind, but we’ll see what the years bring. He’s just wrapped up his work on the “Weird Al” Yankovic biopic for Roku and has been quite the popular fancast to play Wolverine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. We’ll see if he is open to committing to a new franchise moving forward.

    Source: New York Times

  • New Art Book May Hint at ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Release Date

    New Art Book May Hint at ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ Release Date

    There’s been a lot of debate if Warner Bros.’s open-world game, Hogwarts Legacy, would even manage its 2022 release window as news died down quickly on the project. Then, industry insider Tom Henderson hinted that the State of Play may arrive to confirm a summer release date for the game. While we’re still waiting for that rumored event – especially with the recent State of Play only focused on the next Gran Turismo release – there’s a chance that a book release offered some more hints at the game’s release.

    As first noticed by The Rowling Library, Jody Revenson, who worked on other Wizarding World tie-in books, has tackled the art book for the upcoming Warner Bros. game titled The Art and Making of Hogwarts Legacy. What stands out is that the publication under the ISBN 9781647226190 was already given a release date. The book includes the release date of September 6th, which would potentially hint at the game also finding its way into stores around the same time. So, there’s a chance that it adds some validity to a potential summer release date.

    Of course, nothing is final until we get an official statement but it’s a positive sign that we’ll get to see the release this year. The idea of being able to explore Hogwarts at your own leisure as a student sounds like a great time. We still know very little about the project, but it makes you wonder if we might see something similar to Rockstar’s Bully game. You have to explore the campus in-between lessons as you develop your abilities as a wizard. The potential is exciting and hopefully, it can deliver.

    Source: Rowling Library