Harry Potter to be adapted into TV series, HBO confirms

Another actor will take over from Daniel Radcliffe to play Harry Potter in the series.

Harry Potter will return to our screens in the form of a TV series, American streaming platform HBO Max has confirmed.

The Harry Potter series is described as a “faithful retelling” of the books about the boy wizard by J. K Rowling, featuring a new cast. Each season is intended to focus on one of the seven books, though HBO anticipates stretching the series to a decade-long run.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Warner CEO David Zaslav and HBO head Casey Bloys apparently “worked to convince Rowling” on the series for a number of years.

While the show hopes to honour Ms Rowling's source material, she will "not run the show day to day or serve as its primary creator", it is reported.

Ms Rowling has been criticised in recent years for her staunch views on gender identity, which she has shared on social media.

This has slightly stunted support for reboots of the wizarding world saga, with fans being urged to boycott a recently released Hogwarts Legacy video game in support of trans rights.

The announcement was made as executives touted 'Max', a rebranding of HBO Max. The $16-per-month service will be released May 23 in the US and automatically replace the company’s existing HBO Max.

As well as a Harry Potter series, Max will also air a Game of Thrones prequel called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, set in Westeros 100 years prior to the events of Game of Thrones. It’s based on fantasy novellas by George R. R. Martin, which follow the adventures of a knight named Ser Duncan the Tall (known as Dunk) and Aegon V Targaryen (called Egg). Martin will serve as an executive producer and writer on the series alongside Ira Parker.

House of Dragons, also a Game of Thrones prequel, has begun production on its second season for HBO.

Other announcements included a series based on the Penguin character in The Batman, which is now in production with Colin Farrell resuming his role and another comedy set in the Big Bang Theory universe from Chuck Lorrie, both for Max.

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