Warner Bros. is in talks about a Harry Potter Max Original series on HBO Max, a source with knowledge of the matter confirmed to TechCrunch. The company is nowhere near striking a deal yet, the source tells us.
Bloomberg was the first to report about the potential deal. Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) CEO David Zaslav and HBO chief Casey Bloys have apparently been trying to convince author J.K. Rowling to approve the series.
Potterheads everywhere will likely be excited about a future series, being that Harry Potter is overall the best-selling book series, with over 600 million copies sold. In total, the eight films based on the series generated $7.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
The Harry Potter brand has turned into many products and spinoffs, with the most recent being the video game Hogwarts Legacy, which Warner Bros. published in February and has sold more than 12 million copies so far. There’s also a stage production called “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” that had its official opening night on June 19, 2022.
Warner Bros. has wanted to do more with the popular book series for a long time. The company previously said it would take “full advantage” of its IP, including Harry Potter, noted Zaslav during the Q4 2022 earnings call.
“I believe that we have an overwhelming advantage in the marketplace with the IP that we own,” Zaslav said. “We have the strongest hand in the industry, with the most complete portfolio of assets and globally renowned franchises, personalities and storytelling IP across sports, news, nonfiction and entertainment, in virtually every region of the globe and in every language.”
Other plans include new films based on The Lord of the Rings franchise, a prequel series for Stephen King’s “It,” and more “Game of Thrones” projects. WBD has also brought on filmmaker James Gunn and producer Peter Safran to reboot the DC Universe.
Next week, the company will hold a press conference to announce its new streaming strategy, which will see a new streaming service that combines HBO Max and Discovery+ content.
Source @TechCrunch
