In spring 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that the “Harry Potter” novel and film series by JK Rowling would now also appear as a series. More concrete plans for the project were revealed at a presentation on Thursday at Warner Bros. Discovery headquarters in London. This is where the scope of the project really became visible. You’re dealing with dimensions that have never existed before in a series.
32,000 castings just for the children
Showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod revealed at the presentation that 32,000 children had auditioned for the child roles. Casting decisions have not yet been made; a team is currently combing through 500 to 1,000 videos per day and looking at the applicants very closely. The next step in the casting process would be a workshop where the shortlist of children is invited.
During the casting, it is important that the children’s roles (especially those of the main trio Harry, Ron and Hermione) are distributed among newcomers. Diversity and inclusivity are also explicitly used as criteria. The adult roles will be distributed to “brilliant UK theater actors,” Variety reports. No casting has been confirmed yet, but there are rumors that Irish actor Cilian Murphy (Oscar for “Oppenheimer”) will take on the role of the antagonist Voldemort. Gardiner and Mylod also mention that the casting takes into account the correct age of the roles. As an example, Severus Snape in the series will be in his mid-30s, while Harry Potter’s parents, Lilly and James, will be younger, having died at 21.
The legacy of the films will live on
What was also announced is that the series will be broadcast over a period of 10 years. Gardiner sees this as an opportunity to “really immerse yourself in the characters’ traits” and also explore the setting environment in more detail. They don’t want to noticeably change the setting of the series. Since the series will be shot in the same studios in London as the films, there are also plans to use old props from the films from the archive.
HBO stands by JK Rowling
However, the project is controversial. Warner Bros. subsidiary HBO, where the series also airs, is fully behind JKRowling. The author has often come under fire for her negative views on the subject of transgender identity, which she shared on X (then still Twitter) in 2020. At that time, the stars of the films such as Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson also spoke out against the author. But the network HBO only said in a statement to Variety: “JK Rowling has a right to express her personal views. We will continue to focus on developing the new series, which will only benefit from their involvement.”