It’s official: HBO is adapting Harry Potter as a series, one book per season

After years of rumours swirling ever since the film adaptations wrapped in 2011, it finally happened. On 12 April 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery officially announced that Harry Potter is getting a new television adaptation at HBO, and the premise is exactly what fans had been hoping to hear: one complete season for each book.

Yes. Each. Book.

Anyone who spent years complaining about cut Quidditch matches, Neville’s development, the magic of the Hogwarts dormitories, your moment has arrived. The series was officially ordered by Max (formerly HBO Max) and promises a faithful, detailed adaptation of all seven of J.K. Rowling’s books.

Warner Bros.’ official statement gave us a taste of what’s coming: “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 twenty-five years.”

The team behind it

J.K. Rowling will serve as executive producer, alongside Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman, who produced all the original films. Trustworthy hands on deck.

The ambition is staggering: production is expected to span roughly a decade, with each season covering one book and annual releases once the series gets going.

What this means for fans

Here at Potterish, we’ve been covering Harry Potter for over twenty years. We’ve lived through the anticipation before every film, the queues at premieres, the decades of love for these characters. This news landed with the weight of something genuinely real, and we felt that flutter we hadn’t felt in a long time.

The community is divided, as it always is with anything new. Some are euphoric, some would rather the original films remained a unique legacy. Both feelings are valid. What we know, after all this time covering the Wizarding World, is that Harry Potter survives everything.

Stay close. This is going to be a long ride, and we’ll be here for every step of it.

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