Credits: The Indian Express
Get ready to return to Hogwarts, this time on the small screen. The best-selling Harry Potter series will be rebooted for the streaming age, according to new reports that suggest Warner Bros. Discovery is in early talks with JK Rowling’s camp to produce a new show based on her popular books. Rowling, who has courted controversy in recent years with her comments about trans rights issues, will retain a degree of creative control, but won’t serve as showrunner or creator.
According to Bloomberg, the series would be directly based on Rowling’s books, rather than being an “in-universe spinoff” such as the Fantastic Beasts films. “Each season would reportedly draw from one of the books, suggesting an ongoing franchise that would stretch for years for the studio. Under the deal, Rowling would maintain a degree of creative involvement with the series, though she would not serve as the primary creator or showrunner,” a section of a Variety report read.
Harry Potter, a series of seven fantasy novels, was adapted into an eight-part global blockbuster film series by Warner Bros. starting with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 2001. The movie franchise culminated with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011, and has grossed a combined total of $7.7 billion. Post the Harry Potter films, a spin-off prequel series was planned, which started with the 2016 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but stalled after the critical and commercial underperformance of last year’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
The film series still holds a strong pop-culture influence even a decade after its conclusion, even though the public opinion of Rowling herself remains conflicted. The Harry Potter film series was headlined by Daniel Radcliffe in the titular role, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger.
