Featured Image Credit: Warner Brothers
Topics: Harry Potter, JK Rowling
Ben Thompson
HBO Max and Discovery+ streaming services have announced they are merging into a new platform called Max, and a Harry Potter reboot is set to premiere on it.
Featuring an entirely new cast separate from the eight iconic movies, the plan is for several seasons of a TV series, with each one focusing on one of the books in JK Rowling's spellbinding series.
Warner Bros Discovery said it expected the series to be a decade-long endeavour, while HBO and Max content CEO Casey Bloys celebrated the opportunity to make the show.
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Bloys said: "We are delighted to give audiences the opportunity to discover Hogwarts in a whole new way.
"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."
JK Rowling is tied to the project as executive producer, and welcomed the chance to give Harry and his adventures at Hogwarts another go on the big screen.
Rowling said: "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."
The teaser has been released on HBO Max's Twitter account, where it received a mixed response, particularly from those who fondly remembered the film series, which ran between 2001 and 2011.
Although die-hard fans of the books will have their issues with things that were changed in the adaptation process, the films generally remain well-liked among fans.
Some fans urged HBO to 'do something new, don't reboot', and said they 'won't be watching, films were great and the cast cannot be beaten'.
Not everyone wasn't keen though, as some said they had 'MEGA HYPE' for a Harry Potter series and that they were 'SO ready' to see more of Hogwarts on their screens.
More said all they wanted was for an adaptation to 'do it justice' and wanted to see some of the bits from the books that never made it into the movies and couldn't even fit into deleted scenes.
It remains to be seen whether or not the new series will top the smash hit movie franchise.