Is Harry Potter about to take a forbidden journey into the world of streaming television?

That’s the latest internet report, which claims that a Harry Potter TV series is “in early development at HBO Max.” Currently, the Harry Potter franchise is in hibernation, as the movies ended with 2011’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2. (J.K. Rowling’s “Wizarding World” has instead continued in the spinoff prequel series Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.) With the series of novels, movies, games, theme parks, and breakfast cereals all remaining magically popular, The Hollywood Reporter says WarnerMedia is “exploring” their options for a Harry Potter streaming show:

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that executives at the WarnerMedia-backed streamer have engaged in multiple conversations with potential writers exploring various ideas that would bring the beloved property to television. Sources say broad ideas have been discussed as part of the early-stage exploratory meetings.

Note that HBO and Warners did tell THR in a statement that “There are no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform.” So these could be very early, very theoretical “conversations.” Or perhaps the series being explored isn’t strictly speaking a “Harry Potter” show and more of a spinoff in the Wizarding World a la Fantastic Beasts. (That would make both THR’s article and HBO’s statement technically true.)

You have to think that if Warner Bros. can make a Harry Potter show, they will. And they’ve also made it clear that HBO Max is a huge company priority, as they’ve already decided to put all of Warners’ 2021 movies on the service the same day they open in theaters, cannibalizing their potential box office receipts in order to drive up subscription numbers. Imagine how many subscriptions a new Harry Potter TV series would generation.

In the meantime, the next Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them movie is currently scheduled to open in theaters on July 15, 2022. At the rate things are going, that could easily premiere on HBO Max that same day as well.

Gallery —  All the Warner Bros. Movies Coming to HBO Max in 2021:

 

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