The new take on the Harry Potter books is going to be filming in 2025, ahead of a 2027 debut on HBO. More here.
HBO’s anticipated Harry Potter series is edging closer to production, as showrunners confirm shooting will begin in summer 2025.
It’s taken a while to get here. Since it was announced, Harry Potter fans – the ones happy at the idea of an effective remake – have been awaiting further news about the television series. A gargantuan undertaking, the aim is to adapt one book per series, meaning an extremely long term commitment to whichever creative team took on the challenge.
It was revealed earlier this year that Succession’s Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod will act as showrunner and director, respectively. Author J K Rowling is also onboard as an executive producer.
There has been a flurry of Harry Potter news in the last few days. Yesterday, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Paapa Essiedu is reportedly the studio’s top choice to play Severus Snape, memorably brought to life by Alan Rickman in the films. Essiedu is best known for co-starring in Michaela Coel’s award winning drama I May Destroy You.
According to Deadline, the series will begin filming at Leavesden Studios in the summer of 2025.
Gardiner also confirmed that over 32,000 children have auditioned for the roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione. News about casting should be more regular in the coming months as pre-production gets underway.
It has also been confirmed that “with other characters, they will stick to the “canonical” ages, which means Snape will only be 31 and the Dursleys “will be much younger than they were in the movies”. The series will also include “activity from the Hogwarts staff room and have fun with [poltergeist] Peeves in the corridor”.
Harry Potter was originally set to debut the first series, based on The Philosopher’s Stone on HBO in 2026, but it will now premiere in 2027, presumably allowing not only for the huge amount of material to be shot, but also the extensive post production and special effects work. Expect plenty of speculation and conversation ahead of the 2027 debut.
