3 major problems that Harry Potter series needs to overcome 

The upcoming Harry Potter TV series on HBO (image via Instagram/@harrypotter)
The upcoming Harry Potter TV series on HBO (image via Instagram/@harrypotter)

The upcoming Harry Potter TV series on HBO is increasingly becoming the entertainment industry's proverbial goose that lays the golden egg. Harry Potter is widely known across the globe owing to the massive success of the book series by J.K. Rowling.

Rowling, as well as the film series and the upcoming HBO TV show, aims to be a faithful adaptation of the source material. The show seeks to differentiate itself from the earlier iterations with the assertion that it will explore such passages and characters that have been largely overlooked by the film series. However, there are certain lingering issues that need to be addressed before the Harry Potter TV show can mark its arrival.

Here's everything that we know.


What are the 3 major problems that the Harry Potter TV series needs to overcome?

The first concern is the major elephant in the room, i.e., J.K. Rowling. The celebrated author was, in the past, at the receiving end of flak owing to her controversial anti-trans remarks. Despite being severely criticized, the popularity of the literature penned by the controversial writer seems to be on the rise. Rowling serves as one of the executive producers on the TV show. A THR report recently revealed that the 2023 game Hogwarts Legacy was initially facing a public boycott but then went on to be the annual top seller.

The second cause for concern is the question of whether the audiences would be up for watching a TV show whose source material has already been covered extensively by the film series. In this direction, HBO has already made it clear that the TV show will span the entirety of the literary source and will explore all those junctures that have been omitted by the films owing to restrictions of time.

Lastly, the third concern relates to all the skeptics who believe that the failure of fantasy prequels such as the Fantastic Beasts franchise and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power are testament to the fact that the Harry Potter TV series might not work. It can be stated in defense that while the above-mentioned titles were exclusively prequels based on scanty material, the upcoming TV show has the merit of being backed by substantial literature.


Chris Columbus speaks about the HBO TV series

Chris Columbus had directed the films Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone as well as Chamber of Secrets and has recently come out in support of the HBO TV series. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Columbus remarked about the show:

"I think it’s a spectacular idea, because there’s a certain restriction when you’re making a film. Our film was two hours and 40 minutes, and the second one was almost as long. Sorcerer’s Stone took 160 days of shooting, which is ridiculously long. And then, immediately after we stopped shooting, we started shooting Chamber of Secrets, which was another 160 days. That’s roughly 320 days — not counting second unit — back-to-back shooting."

There isn't a potential release date for the Harry Potter TV show, although it is expected to drop sometime in 2026 or 2027.

Edited by Sroban Ghosh