Why HBO’s Harry Potter TV Series Is Doomed To Fail

Key Takeaways

• Balancing each Harry Potter book into a TV series will be challenging due to varying lengths and content.
• The complex filming schedule, especially with child actors, poses a significant challenge for maintaining continuity.
• The TV series will inevitably face comparisons to the beloved movies, potentially impacting audience retention.

Fans of the Wizarding World rejoiced when HBO confirmed that a Harry Potter TV series was in the works, with the reboot set to premiere in 2026. With each book likely to have a dedicated series, Potterheads have been excited about storylines being covered in more detail or characters cut from the movies appearing.

There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the Harry Potter world becoming a television series, as the results could be spellbinding. However, the series is doomed to fail overall, no matter how much effort is put into bringing this epic story to life in a whole new way.

It Will Be Hard To Spread The Books Evenly

One reason audiences have been so receptive to the idea of Harry Potter becoming a television series is that there will be more time to explore the worlds created in each of J.K. Rowling’s individual novels.

Each book was given one movie release, except Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was split into two films to ensure that the franchise was given the ending it deserved. However, there is naturally only so much that can be put into a movie, and it’s expected that certain characters or plot points will be left on the cutting room floor.

However, there are some major moments and characters from the novels that are left behind that people eagerly await to see in the television show. With the HBO Original series planned for a ten-year run, there is no shortage of time to give each book.

But there lies one of the biggest stumbling blocks for this series. Rowling’s novels are not even in length, with each book getting increasingly longer, meaning there’s even more detail to be chosen later on.

On the flip side, the first three books are relatively short. While that lends itself well to being turned into a movie script, it doesn’t for television. This could lead to a lack of balance, with the first few series feeling like they’re getting stretched out, only for the shows to be rushed at the end.

Considering the importance of the show starting with a bang to win over audiences, the lack of content could make it difficult for showrunners to drag out the stories. However, HBO doesn’t want to risk frustrating audiences by rushing at the end, which is what led to so many complaints about Game of Thrones.

The Filming Schedule Is Going To Be Complex

Filming a television show that’s expected to run for a decade isn’t easy when it comes to maintaining actor continuity. This is especially tricky when it comes to casting children, which the Harry Potter TV series will have to do a lot of.

Casting for the show has already begun, but the filming schedule is going to be tough to get right. The three lead characters must start as children and finish as young adults, with a large chunk of the cast also going through that journey.

Considering how busy actors are nowadays and the chance that anyone cast in such a big project could end up breaking out and gaining other roles, it will be hard for HBO to organize things. Gaps too long will lead to the actors looking too old for their role, while rushing the filming will lead to the opposite problem.

Even with adult characters, casting can become tricky, especially when the cast is going to be as big as what is expected for this. The movie franchise managed to do well with its casting, with the part of Albus Dumbledore being the only significant role that had to be re-cast due to Richard Harris’s passing.

However, when it comes to television it’s going to be a tricky road to navigate and one that could lead to a lot of issues that will frustrate audiences.

It Will Always Be Compared To The Movies

Whenever a movie is transformed into a television show, comparisons will inevitably be made between them. That’s a natural expectation, but when the movies are as popular as the Harry Potter franchise, it can become rather problematic.

This is one of the most successful franchises of all time, with eight different movies being beloved by audiences worldwide. According to Forbes, Harry Potter movies made up 25% of the top 32 highest-grossing movies of all time until the launch of The Avengers in 2012, proving how big of an impact these have made.

While this guarantees a massive audience when the show first launches, it also means there will be lots of comparisons. Fans aren’t guaranteed to stick around simply because it’s the franchise they know and love either. Amazon’s Rings of Power saw an audience drop-off, according to Deadline, proving that huge franchises don’t always retain audiences. Even though it isn’t a direct reboot of the Lord of the Rings movies, there are similarities that led to similar expectations.

The fact that the Harry Potter movies are so modern also doesn’t help, because everything holds up and still looks brilliant. Fans might find it hard to detach themselves from the actors who took on the roles originally, and that might lead to the show climbing an uphill battle from the start.