BREAKING: Harry Potter TV Show Development Claims Denied By Warner Bros.

Jan 26, 2021

Posted by: Emma Pocock

Audio, HP Cast, Movies, News, PotterCast, Rumor, Warner Bros.

BREAKING: The Hollywood Reporter claims to have heard from official sources that a Harry Potter TV series is in development for HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s streaming service.

The Hollywood Reporter reported on January 25th:

“A Harry Potter live-action TV series is in early development at HBO Max. 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.”

After the appointment of Warner Bros. Kids President Tom Ascheim to oversee the Wizarding World franchise, the ‘news’ that there are discussions in the works about a TV series may come as no surprise. THR suggested that the live-action series would expand the Wizarding World stories and ‘bring the beloved property to television’. 

A joint official statement has been released by HBO Max and Warner Bros in response to the claims, which reads:

“There are no Harry Potter series in development at the studio or on the streaming platform.” 

Of course, just because a series isn’t in development, doesn’t mean talks haven’t happened – and perhaps this apparent ‘leak’ was just testing the waters to see what fan response would be like. We’ll never know! However, this isn’t the first time we’ve had this new fly onto our feeds out of nowhere – you may remember the last time we debunked rumors of a TV show back in 2019!

After the year we’ve had, it’s interesting to consider how news of a TV show would go down. Amidst fans being disappointed with J.K. Rowling’s stance on transgender women, and the third Fantastic Beasts film being delayed after a follow-up film that didn’t perform quite as well as the first (not to mention the recasting of Grindelwald), there’s a lot to unpack! Listen to the team at PotterCast discuss the news in their latest episode below:





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.