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Harry Potter was the franchise that showed Warner Bros. its glory days. It was the biggest franchise held by the studio, as the eight movies based on JK Rowling’s seven books grossed over $7.7 billion worldwide, and no other franchise could manage to top that.
Warner Bros. Discovery has been trying to bring back the magic of the Wizarding World with Fantastic Beasts, but they’ve managed to procure mediocre results. But to change the tide, the studio is talking about producing a Harry Potter remake series based on the seven books.
Each season of the Harry Potter series will be based on one of JK Rowling's seven books, reports suggest
Two people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg:
“Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is close to a deal for a new online TV series based on Harry Potter.”
They told the publication that every season of the show will be based on one of the seven books JK Rowling wrote, and the show will run on HBO.
However, IGN reported that Warner Bros. isn’t nearing any deal as of now, but they are planning to make a series for sure. IGN also countered Bloomberg’s report by saying that the show would be developed as an HBO Max Original and not an HBO proper.
This series has been rumored for a while as WB has been trying to make their Wizarding World franchises lucrative. Despite multiple reports teasing its development, HBO Max’s head of originals, Sarah Aubrey, told Variety that “we don’t have a series in active development right now.” Still, there are certain possibilities for it in the future.
Aubrey said last year:
"There's nothing like a Harry Potter fan in terms of their endless appetite for storytelling and new ways of interacting with these characters. So, whether it's the reunion or live events or games, we're very much in the business of creating new content for those fans and thinking what to do next."
So, the series could be very close to happening now.
Why a Harry Potter series may be necessary
Warner Bros. invested a lot in their Fantastic Beasts franchise, which has only delivered diminishing results. The first film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, had a promising start by making $814 million worldwide. But then, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald only managed to bring in $654 million.
The situation worsened when the threequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, brought in just $405 million. The plan was to develop five movies that would end with a glorious battle between former lovers Dumbledore and Grindelwald. But after the failure of the third, the plans to develop parts 4 & 5 currently stand in limbo.
Rumors also suggested that Warner Bros. was developing a project based on the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Broadway show, with the original cast all returning, but nothing has panned out of it. So, a series retelling the story of WB’s most popular wizard may be the need of the hour as Warner Bros. isn’t managing to cash in on anything else with the IP.
