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The Harry Potter Films Were a Massive Success
Hogwarts Legacy Proved There’s Still a Love for the Franchise
HBO’s Harry Potter Series Will Reach a Wider Audience
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Much has been made of the streaming war among studios that has led to the launch of streaming services and high-budget television shows. While the streaming war appears to be ending as studios want to replicate the cable TV model with bundles, cinematic television doesn't seem to be going anywhere. HBO's House of the Dragon and Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are the two major fantasy shows going on right now, but in a couple of years, HBO will come out with a Harry Potter reboot.
Warner Bros. announced the series in 2023 and will attempt to adapt the seven Harry Potter books each season. HBO's Harry Potter series makes a promise that many longtime fans of the franchise will finally see elements from the published works that couldn't make it into the eight films come to life. While Rings of Power and House of the Dragon have been successful fantasy shows, HBO's Harry Potter series is bound to be bigger than both once it arrives in 2026.
The Harry Potter Films Were a Massive Success
Top 5 Highest-Grossing Film Franchises |
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#1: MCU - $31 billion |
#2: Spider-Man - $10 billion |
#3: Star Wars - $10 billion |
#4: Wizarding World - $9 billion |
#5: James Bond - $7 billion |
The Harry Potter books were a global phenomenon that led to people lining up at bookstores for midnight releases for each installment. That would go on to translate for Warner Bros. on the film side, with the franchise grossing nearly $10 billion worldwide with its eight installments. Throughout its run, the Harry Potter films broke numerous records, including the best opening weekend at the time with the second part of Deathly Hallows. With only seven books to adapt, it was a huge loss for Warner Bros. to say goodbye to the franchise after so much financial success, hence why it was such a priority for Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to reinvigorate it. Warner Bros. tried to resurrect the Harry Potter IP with the Fantastic Beats films, and while the first film was a success, its sequels failed to live up to the Wizarding World standard.
"Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally." -- Max's statement when the series was first announced.
The original eight Harry Potter films were not only box office juggernauts but also maintained a consistent quality rarely seen in other franchises. With the HBO series, the Harry Potter series will return to its roots with a retelling of the seven books people worldwide fell in love with in the first place. Other franchises like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings have also moved into television as expansions of the source material like the Fantastic Beasts films, and the results have been similar with a divided fanbase. Since the Harry Potter series will merely adapt the books, there's less risk of outrage as long as it honors the source material as the films did. If successful, it will reawaken a giant that will become unmatched in fantasy television.
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The Harry Potter Films Robbed Fans of an Incredible Book Moment, but HBO Can Make It Right
The Harry Potter movies captured the best moments of the books, but one scene was left out that the reboot could fix.
Hogwarts Legacy Proved There’s Still a Love for the Franchise

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Hogwarts Legacy Is Proof the Harry Potter Show Can Work
Hogwarts Legacy made a number of tweaks to Wizarding World lore and experimented with the material to test the audience for future Potter releases.
- Avalanche Software developed the open-world Harry Potter video game for Warner Bros.
- A sequel to Hogwarts Legacy is a major goal for Warner Bros. following the first game's success.
The disappointment and box office failure of the final two Fantastic Beasts films would make you believe the Harry Potter franchise isn't as viable as it once was, yet another project points to the opposite. Following leaked footage that hit online teasing a dream open-world Harry Potter AAA video game, Hogwarts Legacy was eventually announced in 2020 and arrived on consoles in 2023. The video game would allow players to explore the Hogwarts grounds and live out the fantasy as a student by attending classes, becoming part of a house, and going on an adventure in a new story set in the late 1800s.Hogwarts Legacy became a massive success, exceeding expectations and becoming 2023's bestselling video game title in the United States.
Hogwarts Legacy is the most recent major Harry Potter release, proving there's still a hunger for the franchise. So many worldwide are still enamored by Hogwarts and the Wizarding World, spelling big things for the HBO series when it finally arrives. The trick for HBO's Harry Potter series is that it will need to capture the same magic Hogwarts Legacy did by transporting audiences to the Wizarding World and offering a sense of awe, something that was missing from the Fantastic Beasts films. Ultimately, many associate the franchise with Hogwarts and want to return to it. The Fantastic Beasts films attempted to shoehorn the iconic location in its sequels, but the HBO series will allow viewers to spend more time there than the films and explore new corners of the castle featured in the novels.
HBO’s Harry Potter Series Will Reach a Wider Audience

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This Crucial Harry Potter Scene Was Even Worse in the Book
The Harry Potter movies brought to life many difficult scenes from the books, but one in particular was less cruel in live-action.
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- Bloomsbury first published Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in 1997 and it remains the best-selling book of the series; Deathly Hallows is the fastest.
- Over 600 million copies of the Harry Potter novels have been sold worldwide and it remains the highest-selling book series of all time.
Early on, the Harry Potter books were merely seen as young adult novels since the protagonists were children, yet many adults soon discovered the stories tackled major themes like death. Harry Potter's appeal to adults and kids made it as successful and popular as it became. The story of Harry Potter is so rich that it transcended its target audience and became generational in the same way a franchise like Star Wars has.
"With [writer] Francesca [Gardiner] and Mark I feel very, very happy and excited about what they’ve got going," -- Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys on the upcoming Harry Potter series.
While The Lord of the Rings film trilogy was just as successful as the Harry Potter films, their audience was still slightly more mature than Harry Potter. The Harry Potter franchise also benefited from the books being more recent than The Lord of the Rings, published in the '50s. The Harry Potter books were the most accessible, and Warner Bros. also made the films that way. Game of Thrones has also become a widely successful franchise, but it's drastically more adult than Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings with its violence and sex. Harry Potter is a four-quadrant franchise that will reach families and instantly give it an edge over the other fantasy franchises, something HBO and Warner Bros. are likely counting on to bring in massive views.
The Harry Potter series is easily one of the biggest television projects coming in the future and the last proper entry came over a decade ago. While the perception of the franchise has changed with J.K. Rowling's controversial views of the transgender community, Hogwarts Legacy shows us there's still an affection for the world she created. The series is now moving full steam ahead after its initial announcement, with Succesion's Francesca Gardiner leading the series as the showrunner and Mark Mylod on board to direct several episodes. Now, the HBO series looks to fill the iconic roles of Harry, Ron, and Hermione with an open casting call. There may be more pressure on the Harry Potter series compared to House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, but as long as it sticks close to the source material like HBO promises it will, it should satisfy for seven seasons given how rich it is.
Rowling's participation is a dealbreaker for some; she will still likely remain very hands-on and seek a faithful adaptation of her novels in the same manner as the films, and the series will also involve longtime Harry Potter producer David Heyman. Another promising note, t he Harry Potter novels were still coming out as the films were released, which made it hard at times for the films to set up certain story beats properly. That will be different this time around regarding the HBO series. HBO's Harry Potter series will put the franchise back on the map in a major way, and when it does, House of the Dragon and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will take a backseat as television's premier fantasy shows.

Harry Potter
The Harry Potter franchise follows the adventure of a young boy introduced a whole new world of magic, mayhem and darkness. Traversing the obstacles in his path, young Harry's rise to heroics pits him against Lord Voldemort, one of the most dangerous wizards in the world and all his minions.
- Created by
- J.K. Rowling
- First Film
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- Latest Film
- Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Upcoming TV Shows
- Harry Potter
- Cast
- Daniel Radcliffe , Rupert Grint , Emma Watson , Maggie Smith , Alan Rickman , Helena Bonham Carter , Ralph Fiennes , Michael Gambon
- Where to watch
- HBO Max
- Spin-offs (Movies)
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them , Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald , Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
- Character(s)
- Harry Potter , Voldemort
- Video Game(s)
- Hogwarts Legacy , LEGO Harry Potter Collection , Harry Potter: Wizards Unite , Harry Potter: Puzzles and Spells , Harry Potter: Magic Awakened , Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets , Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2