Posted in: HBO, TV | Tagged: harry potter, mipcom

Harry Potter Series Able to Go "More In-Depth" Than Films: Dungey

Warner Bros. Television Group head Channing Dungey offered an update on the Harry Potter series, noting the advantage that it has.

With this week bringing international television trade show MIPCOM, we're expecting to hear a lot of things about a lot of shows that are either in development, in production, or looking for a home. Channing Dungey, chairman and CEO of Warner Bros. Television Group, had some insights to share about one series that's definitely been grabbing a whole lot of attention. According to Dungey, Warner Bros. Discovery's HBO and Warner Bros. Television's upcoming multi-season series adaptation of bestselling author J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" novels will be "a little bit more in-depth than a two-hour film," with the series able to devote more space to tell each book's story.

"There's not a lot to talk about at this moment. We've got our fantastic writing staff in place, and they are doing what they need to do. And casting calls have opened up in the U.K. and Ireland, so the process is moving along. It's going quite well," Dungey shared. In terms of being able to adapt "Harry Potter" as a series, Dungey shared that it opens up more creative possibilities. "It's an unbelievable dream, honestly, and as somebody who is a huge fan of books, the opportunity to get to explore them in maybe a little bit more in-depth than you can in just a two-hour film, that's the whole reason we're on this journey," Dungey added.

The stories from each of Rowling's Harry Potter books will become (from the initial statement that was released when the series news first dropped) "a decade-long series produced with the same epic craft, love, and care this global franchise is known for. The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of fantastic detail, much-loved characters, and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five 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."

Speaking with Deadline Hollywood after the 76th Emmy Awards in September, Casey Bloys, Chairman and CEO, HBO and Max Content, offered an update on how things were looking at that point. Noting that "the team, they're hiring department heads, casting, and we're off," Bloys added that "with [writer] Francesca [Gardiner] and Mark, I feel very, very happy and excited about what they've got going." Though he didn't commit to a date when filming could possibly get underway and noted that "it's too soon" to discuss when the series would premiere, Bloys did extend the window for the show's debut – sharing that it could be "late '26-'27."

The series is written and executive-produced by showrunner Francesca Gardiner (Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve). Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films.

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