New Harry Potter TV series closing in on deal
Harry Potter looks set to follow in the footsteps of Lord of the Rings as wannabe creators are looking to move one step closer to creating a TV series out of the beloved franchise.
More than a decade after the final Harry Potter film hit cinemas, the Wizarding World has refused to slow down.
Despite controversy surrounding its creator, JK Rowling, fans from across the globe have continued their devotion to all things magical, getting stuck in to the spin-off series Fantastic Beasts, as well as flocking to the Cursed Child stage show.
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Fans will even be able to truly embody the life of a Hogwarts student when the world's largest indoor Harry Potter attraction opens this summer, but you might soon have a new way of doing just that, except from the comfort of your own sofa.
Talks of a Harry Potter series have been in the works for a couple of years now, since HBO Max and its then-parent company WarnerMedia started looking into the idea and what it would take to make it happen.
At the time, Warner Bros. hired Tom Ascheim, the studio's president of Kids, Young Adult and Classics, to manage the Wizarding World and Harry Potter franchises; a move which made him WarnerMedia’s senior representative when it came to chatting to the woman in charge: Rowling.
The author has had creative control over any exploitation of her work, meaning creators of the TV series need her on board in order to move ahead.
However, Ascheim left the project - and the company - when WarnerMedia was acquired by Discovery.
While the merger might have set the project back a bit, the CEO of the new Warner Bros Discovery, David Zaslav, made clear that it wasn't forgotten altogether.
According to Deadline, Zaslav has met with Rowling multiple times as Warner Bros engages in talks for her to join the Harry Potter TV series as a producer.
Once the author is on board, Warner Bros is expected to move on to look for a writer; the person who will adapt the books to get the show on the road. Or on the TV, I should say.
The series is evidently very much in its early stages, but the general idea is that each season of the show would focus on one Harry Potter book, allowing creators to dive deeper into the details and smaller storylines that never made it to the big screen.
Topics: Harry Potter, JK Rowling, TV and Film
Emily Brown