Last April, Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to bring Harry Potter to television.
As far as we're aware, the current plan is to retell J.K. Rowling's beloved series of novels in an episodic format, likely with one season dedicated to each book. Complications may arise in later seasons given the increased page count of later instalments (perhaps that will just mean more episodes), but with the 25th anniversary of The Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone nearing, now does seem like a good time to reboot the franchise.
Deadline has learned that work on the series has started heating up, with Max currently taking pitches from several writers, including Martha Hillier, Kathleen Jordan, Tom Moran, and Michael Lesslie.
A mix of British and American scribes, each has been tasked with creating pitches for this new take on Harry Potter which will give the streamer a better idea of how they'll approach the property.
A first round of pitch meetings took place this past week in Los Angeles and the top picks will then head to the UK where they'll presumably meet with Rowling (who will have a say in the decision-making process).
Multiple writers may eventually be chosen, though the trade adds that "Max is open to the possibility of developing more than one idea based on Harry Potter." So, spin-offs may be coming!
Hillier is best known for her work on The Last Kingdom and has a background in British television after working on soaps like Eastenders and Holby City. Jordan created Teenage Bounty Hunters for Netflix and has been developing The Decameron with Orange is the New Black creator Jenji Kohan.
Moran, another Brit, penned The Devil's Hour starring Peter Capaldi and Lesslie wrote The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and The Little Drummer Girl.
Last year, longtime Harry Potter franchise producer David Heyman said, "[On Harry Potter] It’s early days. We haven’t even hired a writer to begin writing. It’s a bit early. But hopefully [it will be] something that’s very special, and gives us an opportunity to see the books, and to enjoy a series which explores the books more deeply."
When the news broke that this TV series was in the works, HBO & Max Content Chairman and CEO Casey Bloys confirmed the show's budget would be in line with Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon (the latter's first season cost $125 million, so this is going to be a $1+ billion commitment over 10 years).
Keep checking back here for updates as we have them.