TV: "Harry Potter" reboot as a TV series reportedly in the works at HBO

[JimmyApples]

I was waiting for this news - seemed inevitable to happen one day. I do think it’s about 10 years too early as the movies ended, what, 10 years ago?

I’ll still watch, of course.

 

[blueandgoldguy]

Yeah it's been 12 years since the last movie and almost 22 years since the first one. I agree, wait another 8 or so years, but then again, they want to content to drive subscriptions for HBO.

Hmmm, if Rowling isn't involved and she has no creative control over the content maybe they take some liberties with the source material...add some trans kids and adults, all-inclusive bathrooms at Hogwarts,etc.

 

[tarheelhockey]

And yet the third movie which saw a shift to a noticeably darker tone is widely regarded as the best movie in the series.

The movies were good. Rowling isn't JR Tolkien or even George R Martin in terms of literary abilities so taking liberties with the source material is fine given its flaws.

Saying the series peaked with the 3rd movie isn’t much of an endorsement of movies 4-8.

 

[hangman005]

The third was also IMO the best book... if only the characters were smarter... I'm sure there was absolutely no need to stun wormtail, so there was no chance he could escape on the way up to the castle right?

 

[LightningStorm]

On top of that, they hit the wrong tone. The first two movies captured the magic spark of the books. They swept you up in the feeling of awe and wonder at a world infused with magic. After that, they did the DC Universe thing of getting progressively darker until the characters are unrecognizable -- unrelatable for both kids and adults, with no sense of joy whatsoever. Instead of joy they just tried to blow everyone's hair back with CGI spectacles.

It's nice to finally find someone who shares my opinion that only the first two movies are like the books. Most people seem to love the 3rd because it was darker, but I feel that it hurt the movie franchise by abandoning the awe and wonder and going too dark too quickly, forcing the following movies to be even darker. Alfonso Cuarón is an excellent filmmaker, but I don't think that he understood the franchise or cared about consistency with Chris Columbus' vision.

I'm with both of you that the first 2 movies directed by Columbus are the best. The rest tried being too overly epic in my eyes. Since Chamber of Secrets is my favorite book, I've always felt lucky that I got lucky that it got one of the few good movie adaptations. Funny, my sister's favorite book is the 3rd, and when we'd debate about them, I'd at times rub it in that at least my favorite got a good adaptation (which she agrees with). In addition to the magic tone of the first 2 movies, Columbus also made accuracy to the book a priority more than the subsequent directors. No surprise that the first 2 are the 2 longest movies, in spite of being the 2 shortest books.

As for this series, I think there's better untold stories in the Harry Potter universe you could tell than retelling the 7 books on screen again. For example, I always wanted a series about the 4 Hogwarts founders, and my sister wanted one about the Marauders. I'd prefer a show to go into uncharted territory such as those stories.

 

[hangman005]

As for this series, I think there's better untold stories in the Harry Potter universe you could tell than retelling the 7 books on screen again. For example, I always wanted a series about the 4 Hogwarts founders, and my sister wanted one about the Marauders. I'd prefer a show to go into uncharted territory such as those stories.

I'd actually be interested in the Story of R. A. Black, how he went from Death Eater to trying to take voldemort down, how he found out about the horocruxes, something along those lines, I think that'd be an interesting story to tell.

 

[alko]

 

[tarheelhockey]

Ok…. I mean it’s possible to do that but man that a massive commitment for the cast if the ultimate goal is to do all of the books. Asking a 12 year old to commit plus all of the adults if you’re going to make it through every book.

It’s a huge commitment, but you’re also kind of offering them an entire acting career with everlasting fame and fortune. Look at the original cast, or the cast that got on board early with the MCU movies. I don’t think ambitious 12 year old actors are turning down an opportunity like this.

 

[NyQuil]

To avoid obvious comparison they would need to fundamentally alter the look and style of the films.

I'd be curious to see something like a gothic Tim Burton lens applied to the entire series but I can't see him doing it, and it might be too frightening for young children.

I'm not sure who the intended audience is - but I suspect it's the millennials who are now having children of their own.

Also, be prepared for a lot of recasting characters into all kinds of races, genders, sexual orientations, etc. to appease the crowd that wants Harry Potter to be more representative.

Given that Hermione is black in Cursed Child, I suspect that will be a no-brainer for them.

Don't worry, I'm pretty sure Draco Malfoy will remain the very image of white privilege.

 

[RandV]

It’s a huge commitment, but you’re also kind of offering them an entire acting career with everlasting fame and fortune. Look at the original cast, or the cast that got on board early with the MCU movies. I don’t think ambitious 12 year old actors are turning down an opportunity like this.

Yeah I think from a production standpoint it's pretty straight forward. You know it's a 7 year commitment going in. The story start to finish is already laid out. The primary sets/locations will be set for the entire stretch. Compared to Game of Thrones this will probably be like running a sitcom to HBO. The biggest risk is they kind of have to commit to the whole thing from the start so what if it bombs. But I think it's a pretty safe bet it won't.

 

[tarheelhockey]

To avoid obvious comparison they would need to fundamentally alter the look and style of the films.

I'd be curious to see something like a gothic Tim Burton lens applied to the entire series but I can't see him doing it, and it might be too frightening for young children.

Turns out to be a cartoon remake

 

[SPV]

I had wanted them to do an animated series for a very long time. Unfortunately Rowling has tainted the series she created. But I’ll be curious to see how it progresses.

 

[x Tame Impala]

It's nice to finally find someone who shares my opinion that only the first two movies are like the books. Most people seem to love the 3rd because it was darker, but I feel that it hurt the movie franchise by abandoning the awe and wonder and going too dark too quickly, forcing the following movies to be even darker. Alfonso Cuarón is an excellent filmmaker, but I don't think that he understood the franchise or cared about consistency with Chris Columbus' vision.

I hope that this series has the same showrunners for its length and doesn't have that kind of consistency issue. I realize that it has to get dark near the end, but it should get darker gradually, not all of the sudden in the 3rd season, and I don't ever want it to be so dark that it's not fun any more. The last 4 movies, particularly, weren't much fun for me and I still haven't seen any of them a second time.

True but from the end of book 5 when Sirius dies the books take on a more mature and darker tone. They’re supposed to be because Voldemort is back, Dumbledore is dying all of book 6, then book 7 Dumbledore isn’t there to protect everyone. Voldemort is in full power and all Harry has is his friends and 1 of the 7 Horcruxes. I do agree with the shift in movie 3, it was a pretty big change.

I was waiting for this news - seemed inevitable to happen one day. I do think it’s about 10 years too early as the movies ended, what, 10 years ago?

I’ll still watch, of course.

My thoughts as well. I’d imagine the movie characters are still too fresh in many people’s minds.

Turns out to be a cartoon remake

It’d be such a cool way to do it. Doubt HBO has the guts. Animated shows are allowed an underrated degree of style and creativity. Even if they stuck with the book cover aesthetic, animating this story could be the coolest way to do it

 

[StreetHawk]

It’s a huge commitment, but you’re also kind of offering them an entire acting career with everlasting fame and fortune. Look at the original cast, or the cast that got on board early with the MCU movies. I don’t think ambitious 12 year old actors are turning down an opportunity like this.

I would imagine that for the adult cast it would have to be mostly non big name actors to do the roles if you are asking that long a commitment. Means having to turn down other roles if there are conflicts with scheduling.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I would imagine that for the adult cast it would have to be mostly non big name actors to do the roles if you are asking that long a commitment. Means having to turn down other roles if there are conflicts with scheduling.

True, though I'm not sure big name actors are really what you want in a series like this. At least not in the core roles. There's a LOT of room for A-listers to get involved in supporting roles for a few episodes. For the core roles it's better to have someone relatively unknown who can "become" the character.

Stranger Things is a good example. The kids will always be "that kid who played X on Stranger Things", much like the Harry Potter cast. David Harbour is an experienced actor, but not an A- or even B-lister going into that series. Going forward he will always BE Jim Hopper. And then there's Winona Ryder, who stuck out like a sore thumb because you can't help noticing that Winona Ryder is in the scene. It doesn't help that her name is the first to appear in the title sequence, to be absolutely sure you think "Hey, that's Winona Ryder!". There was nothing wrong with her acting, but for the sake of the show that role probably would have been better cast with a relative unknown who could become Joyce Byers.

 

[StreetHawk]

True, though I'm not sure big name actors are really what you want in a series like this. At least not in the core roles. There's a LOT of room for A-listers to get involved in supporting roles for a few episodes. For the core roles it's better to have someone relatively unknown who can "become" the character.

Stranger Things is a good example. The kids will always be "that kid who played X on Stranger Things", much like the Harry Potter cast. David Harbour is an experienced actor, but not an A- or even B-lister going into that series. Going forward he will always BE Jim Hopper. And then there's Winona Ryder, who stuck out like a sore thumb because you can't help noticing that Winona Ryder is in the scene. It doesn't help that her name is the first to appear in the title sequence, to be absolutely sure you think "Hey, that's Winona Ryder!". There was nothing wrong with her acting, but for the sake of the show that role probably would have been better cast with a relative unknown who could become Joyce Byers.

For the roles of Dumbledore, Snape, etc. I would say non big name.

The ones that were really there for 1 or 2 seasons, it would be fine to have a bigger name since that actor isn't going to be locked into a long term commitment.