It was last April when we first learned of plans to reboot Harry Potter for streaming and Warner Bros. Discovery has since embarked on a lengthy quest to find a creative team for the decade-long series.
Yesterday, the news broke that the show has moved from Max to the HBO cable network and we now have a confirmed showrunner, producers, and director.
HBO, in association with Warner Bros. Television, has named Francesca Gardiner (Succession, His Dark Materials, Killing Eve) as showrunner and executive producer, and Mark Mylod (Succession, Game of Thrones, The Last of Us) as executive producer and director of multiple episodes of the upcoming original Harry Potter series.
A brief logline has also been released which reads, "The series will be a faithful adaptation of the beloved 'Harry Potter' book series by author and executive producer J.K. Rowling. The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail and much-loved characters 'Harry Potter' fans have loved for over twenty-five years."
"Each season will bring 'Harry Potter' and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and cherished films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally."
With this team in place, we'd imagine the next step will be to start casting the series.
HBO's Harry Potter is also executive produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films.
Rowling is thought to have been heavily involved with hiring the reboot's creative team despite remaining extremely outspoken on social media about trans people. That's led to a war of words between the author and many of the actors who starred in the Wizarding World movies.
Daniel Radcliffe, the original Boy Wizard, was recently asked about his relationship with the woman behind the Harry Potter books and movies he starred in between 2001 and 2011.
"It makes me really sad, ultimately," the actor said, "because I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is to me so deeply empathic."
"Jo, obviously Harry Potter would not have happened without her, so nothing in my life would have probably happened the way it is without that person," Radcliffe added, acknowledging recent comments about her role in his success. "But that doesn’t mean that you owe the things you truly believe to someone else for your entire life."
As for Rowling's latest dig aimed at him and Emma Watson, he stated, "I will continue to support the rights of all LGBTQ people, and have no further comment than that."
Stay tuned for updates.