It’s like every Harry Potter fan’s dream come true: a series adapted from the books by JK Rowling. The material of the seven novels, some of which are over 1000 pages, was always assumed to be too extensive for the narrow film format with a maximum running time of 2.5 hours.
A series is the best thing that can happen to Harry Potter? Not really.
A series where each season is based on a book could approach the Hogwarts saga with the level of detail it deserves. All of this can happen soon. An official announcement is still missing, but according to several consistent reports, the Warner streaming service HBO Max is planning a series reboot of the Harry Potter story. Seven books, seven seasons.
That sounds seductive at first. But a Harry Potter series in this form and at this point in time would do almost nothing but harm the franchise. We explain why.
Reason 1: The controversial Harry Potter creator JK Rowling would be involved
JK Rowling is said to be producing the series. However, the Harry Potter creator has been making dangerous statements about trans women for years – and she’s not going to be deterred from her course. In large parts of the fandom, she is therefore criticized. The original actors around Daniel Radcliffe also distanced themselves from her. She remains a millstone in her own franchise. Here you can read more deeply into the JK Rowling problem.
Reason 2: The Harry Potter reboot comes way (!) too soon
The first book is 26 years old, the first film 22. Many first-generation Potter-Heads are having children of their own or already have them. You give them the books to read, show them the films. When the Harry Potter series streamed onto Netflix last fall, multiple installments made the top 10 at once.
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As a pop culture society, we are far from leaving the “old” Harry Potter behind. The film world continues to be consumed by three to four generations at the same time. Four generations who have a very accurate, ingrained image of all things Harry Potter. We’d have two Hogwarts expresses competing with each other, two Hogwarts castles, two different designs of school uniform sold in merchandise stores around the world. And, god forbid, two different Harry Potter tunes.
Reason 3: The target audience knows the Harry Potter storyline by heart
And to be honest: would a series reboot be really exciting? The book and film series were published almost simultaneously. When Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2 hit theaters in 2012, only book fans knew the ending of the story.
When the Harry Potter series comes out, an estimated 90 percent of the target audience would at least be familiar with the rough plot. Quite a few can speak the dialogues. Yes, of course it’s fun to move around in the world and rediscover it without the “what happens next” uncertainty. But a new story is the salt in the soup.
Reason 4: The reboot would split the Harry Potter universe
The Fantastic Beasts series failed with its unusual approach. Warner now wants to squeeze new content out of Harry Potter at all costs and finally make money with the franchise again. A safe number with familiar characters and familiar environment (more Hogwarts!) is needed. The Harry Potter series would be just that simple, short-term emergency solution – which, however, would harm the universe in the long run.
Warner/HBO
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Two parallel universes would emerge. But what would future spin-offs and sequels refer to? The film series or the series? Those responsible for Harry Potter will have to make this decision at the latest when the Harry Potter play The Cursed Child is to be filmed, which will surely happen at some point. The story takes place after part 7. Should the popular actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Tom Felton and Rupert Grint slip into their old roles? Do they still want to if they have to share their character legacy with other stars? Or is the studio looking for a new cast? One of the two Harry Potter series would inevitably be irrelevant in the event of a reboot. Actually nobody can want that.
Yes, a reinterpretation of the book series also offers opportunities. It could show a modernized, more diverse Hogwarts. She could reinterpret the plot enough that even hardcore fans would have something of the series. Original spin-off ideas, of which there are many, can do this at least as well.
No matter how you twist and turn it: The burden of disadvantages on the part of a reboot is currently overwhelming.
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