HBO and HBO Max chief Casey Bloys says the Harry Potter series is ready for its Christmas Day debut. Bloys told Bloomberg that he has seen all of Season 1 and is “very, very happy” with it.
“It is great, and I’m very, very happy. So, I feel really, really good about that,” Bloys said. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone premieres Dec. 25 on HBO Max.
What the Harry Potter series covers
Season 1 adapts J.K. Rowling’s first novel and uses the book’s original British title, Philosopher’s Stone. Dominic McLaughlin plays Harry, with Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger.
John Lithgow plays Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer is Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu is Severus Snape and Nick Frost is Rubeus Hagrid. Season 1 runs eight episodes.
Season 2 and the long road ahead
HBO renewed the series for a second season before the first one aired. Season 2 will adapt Chamber of Secrets, and Variety reported that filming starts this fall. Writer Jon Brown was promoted to co-showrunner alongside Francesca Gardiner.
The plan is to adapt all seven books as seven seasons over about a decade.
Bloys comments arrive ahead of a big merger
The comments come days before Paramount Skydance’s purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery is expected to close on Oct. 6. Our coverage of the Paramount-WBD merger has the details on what the deal means for HBO.
What’s next
Fans can watch the latest Harry Potter series trailer while they wait for Christmas. Tabletop fans can also check out Defenders of Hogwarts, the official Potter board game that funded with a $1.7 million Kickstarter.
