HBO Max: "Harry Potter" series goes into production

The planned “Harry Potter” series from HBO is going into production. This was announced by Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday. The first season of the ten-year series is scheduled to air in 2027 – on the streaming service HBO Max, which is also expected to be available in Germany by then.

It has been known since 2023 that Warner is planning a long-running series based on the books by author J.K. Rowling. In recent months, Warner has gradually announced the cast of the series: The three main characters, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, will be played by Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton. Nick Frost will take on the role of Hagrid, John Lithgow will play Albus Dumbledore, and Paapa Essiedu will play Severus Snape.

Warner has hired Francesca Gardiner, who was involved in the successful HBO series “Succession” as a writer, as showrunner and producer. Mark Mylod will also be a producer and is set to direct several episodes. Mylod was also the director of several episodes of “Succession” and was involved in “The Last of Us” series. Author J.K. Rowling is also listed as a producer.

HBO Max coming to Germany in 2026

The “Harry Potter” series will be available on HBO Max. Until now, HBO content has been distributed in Germany via the Sky streaming service. However, HBO Max will soon be available directly in Germany; Warner has now confirmed in its announcement of the start of production of “Harry Potter.”

The launch in Germany is planned for 2026. That's not too late, Matthias Heinze from Warner Bros. recently said at a media conference. According to Heinze, the number of streaming subscriptions per household in the German market has increased by 50 percent over the past five years. “There's still room for growth,” says the Warner manager. According to Heinze, HBO Max is already available in 78 markets, where it has a total of 122 million subscribers.

(dahe)