‘Harry Potter’ TV Show: Cast, Release Date, and Everything to Know About the Max Series

The Wizarding World is going back to where it all began. In April, the Max streaming service ordered the first-ever scripted Harry Potter TV show. The planned fantasy adventure series will adapt all seven novels of author J.K. Rowling's original Harry Potter series, the best-selling book series of all time. The novels were previously adapted into the Harry Potter film series, which are part of the fourth-highest-grossing movie franchise of all time. 

Here's everything that the news owls have delivered to us so far about the Harry Potter TV series on Max, including when it might be released, what it will be about, and how Rowling will be involved. So hop on your broomstick and follow us to what you need to know about the as-yet-untitled Harry Potter show.

'Harry Potter' show release date 

TLDR: A release date is years away, but we'll update when there’s more information.

THE DETAILS: There have been discussions at Warner Bros., the studio that controls the Wizarding World of Harry Potter franchise, about a Harry Potter series for years. Variety reported that a Harry Potter series was in development at HBO Max back in January 2021. So the April 2023 announcement that the show is officially in the works has been a long time coming.

The lack of detail included in the series announcement indicates that the series is still in very early stages. Deadline reports that producers are beginning their search for a writer/showrunner. And big productions like this take a long time to make. To use a comparable example, Amazon announced its Lord of the Rings series in 2017, but the show didn't come out until 2022. Even accounting for pandemic delays that pushed The Rings of Power's timeline back, Harry Potter is likely still years away, with Deadline's sources speculating 2025 or 2026. But when it does come out, Max plans to keep it running for a decade, according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav.  

'Harry Potter' show cast 

TLDR: No one has been cast yet, but the show will have a different cast from the movies.

THE DETAILS: The Harry Potter movies made stars out of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who were cast in the first film when they were preteens. The series will start the process anew with a different batch of kids.

According to Max's announcement, the series will feature a new cast. Which means not only new kids in the main roles, but new actors playing adult characters like headmaster Albus Dumbledore, groundskeeper Hagrid, and dark wizard Lord Voldemort. Let the fantasy-casting begin!

'Harry Potter' show plot 

TLDR: The Harry Potter TV show will adapt the first seven Harry Potter books.

THE DETAILS: Max describes the series as a "faithful adaptation" of Rowling's book series. It will follow the magical coming-of-age story of the Boy Who Lived over the course of multiple seasons.

"The stories from each of Rowling's Harry Potter books will become a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love and care this global franchise is known for," reads a statement from Max. "The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail, much-loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over 25 years. 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.” 

The movies were also pretty faithful adaptations. The filmmakers did not drastically change plots from page to screen; instead, they just compressed them to fit a movie runtime. So the series will likely follow a similar arc as the films, but with more narrative detail than the films' time constraints allowed. 

The Harry Potter franchise, of course, follows the titular young wizard as he learns about the world of magic. He has assorted exciting adventures at Hogwarts, the boarding school for witches and wizards he attends. He and his friends fight against Lord Voldemort, the evil wizard who murdered his parents and tried to kill him when he was a baby. Harry was responsible for Voldemort's downfall before, and he and his allies do whatever they can to keep the Dark Lord from returning to power. 

'Harry Potter' show trailer

THE DETAILS: There's no trailer yet, but Max did release an announcement teaser for the upcoming series that features some familiar music and imagery.

Will J.K. Rowling be involved?

TLDR: J.K. Rowling is an executive producer of the series, and her involvement is controversial. 

THE DETAILS: J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, will be an executive producer of the Harry Potter series. Rowling previously produced the last two Harry Potter movies. She also produced and wrote or co-wrote all three Fantastic Beasts movies. The extent of her involvement in the Harry Potter TV series is not totally clear yet, but according to Puck, she has a lot of control over the whole Wizarding World franchise. In the statement announcing the series, HBO & Max content boss Casey Bloys described it as a partnership between Max, Warner Bros. Television and Rowling herself. 

“Max's commitment to preserving the integrity of my books is important to me, and I'm looking forward to being part of this new adaptation which will allow for a degree of depth and detail only afforded by a long-form television series," Rowling said in the same statement. 

In recent years, Rowling has become a controversial figure for her views on biological sex and gender identity. She has written that she is "deeply concerned about the consequences of the current trans activism" and expressed worry that conflation of issues faced by trans women and cisgender women will harm cisgender women. She has also used her social media to share unsupported claims about gender-affirming care and has made statements that seem to paint trans people as predators. Her detractors accuse her of transphobia, while her defenders argue she has not said anything transphobic. The announcement of the TV series reignited the controversy, with many media figures and fans criticizing her involvement. 

For now, Max is choosing to not engage with the controversy around Rowling. Bloys declined to comment when asked how Rowling's views may affect the show's ability to attract talent. "That's a very online conversation, very nuanced and complicated and not something we're going to get into," he told Variety when the series was announced.

“Our priority is what's on the screen," Bloys continued. "Obviously, the Harry Potter story is incredibly affirmative and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That's our priority — what's on screen.” He added that Rowling will be involved as an executive producer and will offer her insights on the series. 

Rowling addressed the controversy around her involvement in the show with a sarcastic Twitter post. "Dreadful news, which I feel duty bound to share," she wrote. "Activists in my mentions are trying to organise yet another boycott of my work, this time of the Harry Potter TV show. As forewarned is forearmed, I've taken the precaution of laying in a large stock of champagne."

Where to watch 'Harry Potter'

THE DETAILS: The Harry Potter TV series will stream exclusively on Max. All 11 Wizarding World movies — eight Harry Potter movies and three Fantastic Beasts movies — are available to stream on Max.