It will, of course, be on Max once the series is ready. The service has three price tiers: Max Ad Light, which goes for $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year and allows two concurrent streams; Max Ad Free will be priced at $15.99 a month, or $149.99 a year, and will also allow two concurrent streams; and Max Ultimate Ad Free which costs $19.99 a month, or $199.99 a year, and allows access to four concurrent streams.
In addition, WBD’s other current epic literary adaptation, House of the Dragon, is available not only on the company’s streaming service, but also to cable subscribers on HBO. The Potter series will follow suit, according to execs. So if you have HBO via your cable provider, you’re all set.
If you’re in Canada, WBD has struck a multi-year licensing agreement with Crave for the likes of Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, the DC Universe and HBO content.
Which actors are starring in the series? Are any of the original Harry Potter stars returning?
There will be new actors playing the series’ main characters, but it’s unlikely anyone has been cast yet. In fact, Max’s search earlier this year was centered on finding a showrunner.
“We have been trying to be very close to the vest,” said Bloys. “We haven’t gone out to agencies. We have our own internal process where we’ve been thinking about people but we have not wanted to go out into the world. Now that the news is out there…we’ll start going out to the business.”
As for a return of any of the film franchise’s stars — like Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson or Rupert Grint — never say never. It would certainly be a PR boost for the series and, while new actors will be cast in the primary roles, there are always flashforwards or the currently en vogue multiverse plot ploy that could create space for more familiar faces in the series.
But Daniel Radcliffe has said he is fine with sitting on the sidelines.
“My understanding is that they’re trying to very much start fresh and I’m sure whoever is making them will want to make their own mark on it and probably not want to have to figure out how to get old Harry to cameo in this somewhere,” Radcliffe told ComicBook.com. “So I’m definitely not seeking it out in any way. But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world and I’m very excited to have that torch passed. But I don’t think it needs me to physically pass it.”
Another longtime Potter player who likely won’t be involved is David Yates, who directed the last four movies, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009) and Deathly Hallows Part One and Two (2010 and 2011). In addition, Yates took on the Potter spinoff Fantastic Beasts trilogy. He says there has been no conversation about his involvement with the series. And it sounds like he’s ok with that.
“Huge affection and a lovely group of people I worked with,” Yates told Deadline. “But we haven’t had a conversation since we finished it.”
“It’s been about ‘Let’s just park it, and be done for a while,’” he said of the Potterfranchise.
“Never say never, I would say, but I’m excited about moving on,” he said.
