Search icon

Movies & TV

04th Apr 2023

JK Rowling in talks with HBO for seven-season Harry Potter series

Rory Cashin

Harry Potter

The new adaptation will see each book adapted into a season of the show.

It is reported that HBO are in talks with JK Rowling to come on board as a producer for their new seven-season adaptation of the Harry Potter books. Bloomberg reports that the idea will be for each book in the series to be adapted into one season of the show.

While the Fantastic Beasts prequel movie series has effectively ended with a box office whimper – 2022’s The Secrets of Dumbledore made just $404 million worldwide, over $390 million less than the previous lowest entry in the Harry Potter franchise – the massive popularity of recent video game Hogwarts Legacy proves that there is still a lot of love for the World Of Wizarding.

There have been long-standing negotiations inside Warner Bros., who own both HBO and the rights to Harry Potter, regarding the small-screen adaptation, and Deadline reports that they are finally “on track to clear the biggest hurdle in their path to the screen: a deal with the books’ author JK Rowling who has creative control over any exploitation of her work.”

This would likely see Rowling come on board as a producer, earning yet another massive pay day from her intellectual property, even as the author and screenwriter continue to be involved in controversy surrounding her comments on transgender issues. However, Deadline reports that if Rowling does join the production, she will not be the writer of the adaptation.

If there series does indeed go ahead, it would likely not arrive on screens until 2026 or after, and considering pre-existing deals, would be viewed in Ireland and the UK on Sky Atlantic or with a NOW Entertainment Membership.

Related articles:

LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge