The brand-new Harry Potter HBO TV series has released its first trailer, debuting the first proper looks at the main cast taking over the iconic roles from their film counterparts.
Despite the first look trailer receiving a whopping 8.4 million views in just four days, making it the most watched HBO trailer ever, the new look has exposed a massive problem the TV series will face.
The TV reboot already faces a massive barrier to its success. The Harry Potter films are widely regarded as a Hollywood miracle: releasing every one to two years, for a decade, and they’re all beloved by fans and critics alike.
Now though, an HBO boss has spoken out about the planned release schedule for the TV series, and it creates a major problem for the reboot before it has even begun.
HBO boss confirms the series will not release yearly – which is going to cause huge issues for the show
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Speaking to The Times, the CEO of HBO, revealed that whilst they hoped there would not be ‘gaps’ between seasons the show would not be releasing ‘annually’.
When you start doing the maths on how old this will make the main cast in the latter seasons of the show however, this decision becomes a baffling one.
Assuming HBO continue to adapt one book per season, Dominic McLaughlin, who plays Harry, will be 25 when he stars in The Deathly Hallows as a 17-year-old boy.
Alastair Stout, playing Ron, will be 25 as well, whilst Arabella Stanton would be 24 in this hypothetical final season.
One fan on X raged about the reveal that they didn’t plan to release annually, saying: “I thought the whole point was to have a season each year? Now we’re getting the Stranger Things treatment where the actors are going to be 5+ years older than their characters.”
Daniel Radcliffe, by contrast, was 19 when he filmed his final Harry Potter film, during which the boy wizard was 17.
When you consider the fact, the show will be constantly fairly and unfairly compared to the movies, the aging between seasons could be a massive problem for the TV series – and that isn’t just referencing the young child stars of the show.
The two-year cycle for seasons of the show will place a lot of pressure on the cast’s older stars
One fan online pointed out how John Lithgow’s casting as Dumbledore could also place a large strain on the actor based on how long the series will run for, posting on X: “I'm sorry but the more you think about the two year delay between seasons of the announced Harry Potter reboot them more insane the thing sounds, HBO really is betting the house on a 91 year old John Lithgow shooting the most important Dumbledore scenes.”
This of course refers to his scenes in Half Blood Prince, which would take place in season six of the show and be filmed when Lithgow is 91-92.
Lithgow himself has acknowledged this, stating that the role is ‘going to define me for the last chapter of [his] life’.
He said in an interview with ScreenRant: “Some wonderful people are turning their attention back to Harry Potter. That's why it's been such a hard decision. I'll be about 87 years old at the wrap party, but I've said yes.”
A look at the new Harry Potter cast in action in the new trailer
Harry Potter (Dominic McLaughlin)
Professor McGonagall (Janet McTeer)
Dumbledore (John Lithgow)
Draco Malfoy (Lox Pratt)
Hermione Granger (Arabella Stanton)
Ron Weasley (Alastair Stout)
Professor Snape (Paapa Essiedu)
Hagrid (Nick Frost)
Aunt Petunia (Bel Powley)
Harry Potter season one will release Christmas Day 2026.
Topics: Harry Potter, HBO, JK Rowling, TV and Film, TV
Michael Slavin