Remaking Harry Potter for TV: Why It's Important

It has been announced that Warner Bros. has announced Harry Potter's TV show remake for the studio's newly branded MAX streaming service, raising a question about the decision over Harry Potter 9. More than a decade ago, the mainline Harry Potter series concluded with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2. Many people called it one of the best adaptations of a book to a film in history.

As a result of the success of the series, a prequel series of films was produced, beginning with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. However, the series stagnated after the third film. Several months after the Fantastic Beasts sequels failed to meet expectations, Warner Bros. Discovery began rumors in early April 2023 that HBO Max would remake Harry Potter as a television show.

This news was confirmed as soon as the newly-rebranded MAX streaming service announced that a Harry Potter series would debut. Following the announcement, there was confusion, with people wondering why a Harry Potter remake was necessary instead of a ninth Harry Potter movie. Or better yet, why should the franchise not be remade?

Harry Potter TV Show On HBO

As Warner Bros. Discovery is remaking Harry Potter as a TV series, fidelity to the stories is the key factor. For budgetary and runtime reasons, some Harry Potter movies did omit large sections of the side plots of the respective books. At the same time, the original Harry Potter movies were highly faithful to the source material.

Harry Potter can tell a much longer story as a TV show, allowing its creators to explore many more aspects of the books than they did in the original movie series, including elements left out or characters, relationships, and worldbuilding expanded. As well, TV shows and films have a lot in common. In terms of construction, writing, shooting, and production, as well as their runtime and budget, film and TV have always been very different. 

Harry Potter will be remade with the TV model in mind to feel different from the original movies. As a result, the upcoming Harry Potter series will be inherently different from the original movies, but not merely a remake, because it will be different, albeit somewhat intangible, from the originals.

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How likely Are Harry Potter 9 And Fantastic Beasts 4 To Happen?

The announcement of the new Harry Potter series makes it difficult for a potential Harry Potter 9 or Fantastic Beasts 4 to proceed. Five films were originally planned in the latter, but only three were released before the series began losing steam for various reasons.

In addition to the controversies surrounding J.K. Rowling and Johnny Depp's court case, the Fantastic Beasts series did not perform as well at the box office due to the lower quality of the films and the controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling's views on transgender people. Because of the new announcement, Discovery is unlikely to revisit it.

Considering The Possibility Of A Sequel

The established storyline from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child suggests Harry Potter 9 is more likely than Fantastic Beasts 4, but it is less likely now. This means there will not be time to think about a possible sequel to the original Harry Potter films since the TV remake will likely take over a decade to produce. 

In addition, having two simultaneous-yet-separate stories of the same franchise is likely to confuse general audiences, so Harry Potter 9 is unlikely to be produced. At the same time, a newly announced remake series of Harry Potter continues.

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