Harry Potter TV Series in the works

[HunterTech 994]

I agree that she probably felt it would've been a more compelling story angle afterwards, yet given the amount of things the Fantastic Beasts films have to juggle, I'm not entirely sure if that aspect of those films were executed the best outside of the strong casting. Once more, it's a case where a written novel would've been better suited, yet Rowling felt the franchise needed to branch out more elsewhere.

[Edmilson 7,466]

Let's start the countdown until Jay closes the thread and/or deletes the more "politically-charged" posts: 10... 9... 8... 7... 6...5...4...3...2...1...

[DarthDementous 1,059]

4 minutes ago, HunterTech said:

I agree that she probably felt it would've been a more compelling story angle afterwards, yet given the amount of things the Fantastic Beasts films have to juggle, I'm not entirely sure if that aspect of those films were executed the best outside of the strong casting. Once more, it's a case where a written novel would've been better suited, yet Rowling felt the franchise needed to branch out more elsewhere.

I think you’d be hard pressed making the argument any aspect of those films were executed well

[HunterTech 994]

Hey, people like the music more than the scores in the previous Yates pictures. And I always perk up when I hear people say Newt is a more interesting depiction of a neurodivergent coded character than Hollywood usually allows (which of course makes it frustrating when he gets lost in the plot, given it's supposed to be his series to begin with).

[DarthDementous 1,059]

Just now, HunterTech said:

Hey, people like the music more than the scores in the previous Yates pictures. And I always perk up when I hear people say Newt is a more interesting depiction of a neurodivergent coded character than Hollywood usually allows (which of course makes it frustrating when he gets lost in the plot, given it's supposed to be his series to begin with).

Maybe in the realm of Hollywood but he just comes across as a poor man’s Doctor Who to me

[HunterTech 994]

That's fair. I would probably take him over Cavill Superman, since his character in the Snyder movies are bit too messy for any impression to be made that isn't him being too brooding yet lacking sufficient character for a real impact to be made.

[Matt C 454]

On 16/04/2023 at 11:05 AM, Richard Penna said:

 

How do you stop a customer spiking their own drink after they've purchased it? Or do you mean customers couldn't ask for something else to be added to it?

 

I think it was the latter.

17 hours ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Rowling will probably insist on a lame British sounding score this time.

 

The Max teaser for the show featured Hedwig's Theme, so that will stay in the series. The closest the film scores got to a British sound was Doyle's theatrical Goblet of Fire.

[midgemania 54]

5 hours ago, Matt C said:

The Max teaser for the show featured Hedwig's Theme, so that will stay in the series.

I wonder whether they’ll go down the route of having Williams pen the title theme of the series, then get some other composer to do the grunt work. 
 

FWIW - I think having a similar (or the same) musical identity as the films will be a mistake. It’ll make the TV series feel even more like a lo-res version of the films than it presumably will already. 

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

10 minutes ago, midgemania said:

I wonder whether they’ll go down the route of having Williams pen the title theme of the series, then get some other composer to do the grunt work. 
 

FWIW - I think having a similar (or the same) musical identity as the films will be a mistake. It’ll make the TV series feel even more like a lo-res version of the films than it presumably will already. 

 

What do you mean? The films (at least the early ones) are already quite low-res when it comes to CGI.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

21 minutes ago, midgemania said:

I think having a similar (or the same) musical identity as the films will be a mistake.

Apart from snippets of Hedwig's Theme the movies had with the change of each composer anyway a change in their musical identity.

And after Goblet of Fire music didn't play any significant role in the movies. And I am pretty sure, that it won't in the MAX series, means: If the series is bad or mediocre it won't be saved by the music and if it's good, nobody will care for the music.

[Mr. Who 919]

11 minutes ago, GerateWohl said:

And after Goblet of Fire music didn't play any significant role in the movies.

Nonsense. Music was very important in the latter movies as well as in the first movies, the music is just different. I love JW’s HP scores but the latter scores are also brilliant. Desolat’s use of themes to tell the story musically is great.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

12 minutes ago, Mr. Who said:

Nonsense. Music was very important in the latter movies as well as in the first movies, the music is just different. I love JW’s HP scores but the latter scores are also brilliant. Desolat’s use of themes to tell the story musically is great.

Maybe my statement was not precise enough. Of course was music important, but it did not really provide a significant musical identity. If the MAX trailer would have been accompanied by Desplat's Lilie's Theme or Hooper's Fireworks hardly anybody would recognize it and almost everyone would think, it is something composed for the trailer.

[bollemanneke 3,349]

53 minutes ago, Mr. Who said:

Nonsense. Music was very important in the latter movies as well as in the first movies, the music is just different. I love JW’s HP scores but the latter scores are also brilliant. Desolat’s use of themes to tell the story musically is great.

True, but then Yates went and had to dial down the graveyard cue to a level only hyper-sensitive people could still hear it. And then he had to dial out Desplat's incredible cue for H and H hugging right before Harry walks to the forest.

[midgemania 54]

1 hour ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

What do you mean? The films (at least the early ones) are already quite low-res when it comes to CGI.

Yeah, they’ve aged poorly this is true.
 

But I was more referring to the fact that the Potter TV series will most likely suffer from the same issues that plague the Star Wars and Marvel TV series’. Audiences have grown accustomed to a certain scale when it comes to these franchises, and the TV series’ are incapable of delivering on that due to budgetary constraints. Even an extraordinarily expensive series of TV has to spread a moderate feature film budget over 8-10 hours of content per season. 

57 minutes ago, Mr. Who said:

I love JW’s HP scores but the latter scores are also brilliant. Desolat’s use of themes to tell the story musically is great.

I’m in the controversial minority of people who prefers the musical direction of movies 4-8 over the JW scores (with the exception of a large portion of Hooper’s contributions). I think the Williams scores to the first films ages them far more obviously than the later music, which integrates into the tone of the films much more comfortably. 
 

Of course, as standalone music the Williams scores are superior in almost every way.

[Brónach 1,302]

7 hours ago, DarthDementous said:

Maybe in the realm of Hollywood but he just comes across as a poor man’s Doctor Who to me

 

because that's what he is lol

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

6 hours ago, midgemania said:

Even an extraordinarily expensive series of TV has to spread a moderate feature film budget over 8-10 hours of content per season. 

 

This is a fair point. People talk about how crappy a lot of Rings of Power looks given much money was spent on it. But if you break it down per episode, I believe it's less than was spent on the films (setting aside the money spent to simply acquire the rights).

 

That said, it seems to me a lot of Harry Potter involves building a few standing sets they can use over 10 years...Hogwarts, Hogsmead, The Ministry of Magic, the Weasley abode, etc.  A lot of the "scale" will come from those sets alone. Though clearly, there will have to be a lot of CGI on top of that.

 

The wildcard is the casting. Harry Potter involves a huge number of characters. And while they'll likely be able to get the young actors playing the students for relatively cheap, audiences have become accustomed to quality, recognizable actors playing the adults. Seeing no-names playing Dumbledore, Snape, McGonnagal, etc. isn't going to fly. But real actors don't come cheap, and many aren't going to want to sign up for a ten-year commitment. And this is all setting aside the fact that there are no ten-year contracts for actors. At some point, if the show's successful, they're going to have to renegotiate with everyone, which is going to jack up the cost even more.

 

MAX has a pretty massive task ahead of them.

 

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

The films were hugely successful despite having three average to terrible actors as their main trio. 
 

I don’t think it’s that big a task. 

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

2 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

This is a fair point. People talk about how crappy a lot of Rings of Power looks given much money was spent on it. But if you break it down per episode, I believe it's less than was spent on the films (setting aside the money spent to simply acquire the rights).

 

That said, it seems to me a lot of Harry Potter involves building a few standing sets they can use over 10 years...Hogwarts, Hogsmead, The Ministry of Magic, the Weasley abode, etc.  A lot of the "scale" will come from those sets alone. Though clearly, there will have to be a lot of CGI on top of that.

 

The wildcard is the casting. Harry Potter involves a huge number of characters. And while they'll likely be able to get the young actors playing the students for relatively cheap, audiences have become accustomed to quality, recognizable actors playing the adults. Seeing no-names playing Dumbledore, Snape, McGonnagal, etc. isn't going to fly. But real actors don't come cheap, and many aren't going to want to sign up for a ten-year commitment. And this is all setting aside the fact that there are no ten-year contracts for actors. At some point, if the show's successful, they're going to have to renegotiate with everyone, which is going to jack up the cost even more.

 

MAX has a pretty massive task ahead of them.

 

Stephen Fry for Dumbledore (not really... although I would be amazed if he doesn't get a role), but yeah, it'll be hard finding actors of the calibre of Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris/Michael Gambon, Julie Walters, Ralph Fiennes (replace with Joseph?! - whatever happened to him?!), Helena B-C, Robbie Coltrane etc.

 

Cancelled, season 2 with a cut to black and a card saying "Harry, Ron and Hermione never graduated". Boom.

 

47 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

The films were hugely successful despite having three average to terrible actors as their main trio. 
 

I don’t think it’s that big a task. 

In their defence, they got better... especially Daniel Radcliffe who was easily the weakest originally but probably improved the most. Who knew that being in a play in the west end about cavorting naked with horses would be such a significant learning experience for a young actor? To be fair, I'm glad for him. He had the chance to improve after a ropey start and managed it, not to mention turning into someone who by all accounts is a very sound guy. He could have suffered the same fate as Jake Lloyd (and to a lesser extent, Hayden Christensen) and not having that opportunity to grow into the role.

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

6 hours ago, Bilbo said:

The films were hugely successful despite having three average to terrible actors as their main trio. 
 

I don’t think it’s that big a task. 

 

I don't think they were that bad. Sure, none of them will be mistaken for great thespians (though they did get better as the series went on), but by and large I think they were very well cast. And the producers were lucky that they all aged so well, stuck around for all 8 films and avoided the kind of off-screen issues that can plague child actors.

 

Anyway, my point was that MAX has a big task finding the type of quality actors for the adult roles that the films had, along with all the other considerable challenges in creating this show.

 

5 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Stephen Fry for Dumbledore (not really... although I would be amazed if he doesn't get a role)

 

Fry as Dumbledore is a phenomenal idea. No idea if he'd do it, but I agree, I'd be surprised if he didn't get some role.

 

5 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Cancelled, season 2 with a cut to black and a card saying "Harry, Ron and Hermione never graduated". Boom.

 

[bollemanneke 3,349]

1 hour ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Stephen Fry for Dumbledore (not really... although I would be amazed if he doesn't get a role), but yeah, it'll be hard finding actors of the calibre of Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Maggie Smith, Richard Harris/Michael Gambon, Julie Walters, Ralph Fiennes (replace with Joseph?! - whatever happened to him?!), Helena B-C, Robbie Coltrane etc.

 

Cancelled, season 2 with a cut to black and a card saying "Harry, Ron and Hermione never graduated". Boom.

 

In their defence, they got better... especially Daniel Radcliffe who was easily the weakest originally but probably improved the most. Who knew that being in a play in the west end about cavorting naked with horses would be such a significant learning experience for a young actor? To be fair, I'm glad for him. He had the chance to improve after a ropey start and managed it, not to mention turning into someone who by all accounts is a very sound guy. He could have suffered the same fate as Jake Lloyd (and to a lesser extent, Hayden Christensen) and not having that opportunity to grow into the role.

I thought Radcliffe got worse, to be honest. Watson tends to overact sometimes, but overall she and Grint never bothered me.

[Bespin 8,483]

Radcliffe was cute when he was a kid, then he discovered alcohol and became ugly.

 

I had the same problem!

[GerateWohl 4,370]

Who would be the better Dumbledore? Sean Bean or Daniel Craig?

Or Timothy Dalton!

[Edmilson 7,466]

Not Sean Bean, Dumbledore's death would be spoiled years before season six 

[bollemanneke 3,349]

Craig!

[Bilbo 3,709]

3 hours ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Stephen Fry for Dumbledore (not really... although I would be amazed if he doesn't get a role),

Ludo Bagman! 

Hugh Grant could do Lockhart. Sean Harris as Dumbledore. 
 

 

Please keep Adam Driver away from this. I keep seeing people claiming he’d be great for Snape. No thanks. 

[midgemania 54]

2 hours ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

 

 

Fry as Dumbledore is a phenomenal idea. No idea if he'd do it, but I agree, I'd be surprised if he didn't get some role.

 

 

Fry as Slughorn or Fudge would be excellent as well. 

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,433]

Clive Owen might be a good Snape. He can have the right lifeless look

[Richard Penna 3,694]

On 19/04/2023 at 8:29 AM, GerateWohl said:

Apart from snippets of Hedwig's Theme the movies had with the change of each composer anyway a change in their musical identity.

And after Goblet of Fire music didn't play any significant role in the movies. And I am pretty sure, that it won't in the MAX series, means: If the series is bad or mediocre it won't be saved by the music and if it's good, nobody will care for the music.

 

JW did a complete change in tone for PoA, ditching most of his themes so there's absolutely no reason why PoA should be any more noticed or play a role in the movies more than Hooper's or Desplat's.

 

And who on earth are we to say that whoever writes for the series will do an 'inconspicuous' score, or that it can't be saved by music? Some would argue that RoP was somewhat redeemed by its score (I definitely think it was).

 

I love Williams' scores for the first three but it doesn't mean they're the last word on good Potter music. That's just nonsense.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

15 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

I love Williams' scores for the first three but it doesn't mean they're the last word on good Potter music. That's just nonsense.

Right. Probably that is why nobody said that.

[Richard Penna 3,694]

I know you included GoF in your statement, but nonetheless, 'no significant role' I see as the same as saying a score isn't particularly good.

 

Of course, this also applies only to soundtrack fans. The average moviegoer won't care who composes for any Potter project.

[Goldfinger 59]

15 hours ago, Bilbo said:

Please keep Adam Driver away from this. I keep seeing people claiming he’d be great for Snape. No thanks. 

 

According to reports he's been cast as Mr. Fantastic, so he'll be too busy to do a show anyway, though him not being British would probably be a bigger factor in him not playing the role.

 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

2 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

Of course, this also applies only to soundtrack fans. The average moviegoer won't care who composes for any Potter project.

The average moviegoer thinks, every movie in the past 20 years has been scored by Hans Zimmer.

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

18 hours ago, Bilbo said:

Ludo Bagman! 

Hugh Grant could do Lockhart. Sean Harris as Dumbledore. 
 

 

Please keep Adam Driver away from this. I keep seeing people claiming he’d be great for Snape. No thanks. 

 

Hugh Grant as Lockhart...absolutely.  Adam Driver? Yeah, I can see why some can see him as Snape, but...no. 

 

I was thinking Kelly Macdonald could be an inspired choice for Minerva McGonagall.

[Jay 37,369]

On 18/04/2023 at 4:37 PM, Jay said:

 

Personal attacks are not allowed on this forum, and also, I don't understand what part of his post you thought was homophobic.  Can you explain?

 

 

 

Hey @Docteur Qui are you going to answer this question or ignore it?

[Tom Guernsey 2,286]

I made the mistake of reading a Cracked article about "better casting choices" and the first one was that David Tennant should have been cast as Snape rather than Alan Rickman. Yes, there are plenty of times when better casting choices could have been made, but that really isn't it. Having said that, David Tennant would undeniably be great as Snape so if he got the gig in the TV show, I'd be down with that. His role in the movies was pretty small so it wouldn't be overtly confusing.

[Sweeping Strings 2,363]

All depends on Tennant's schedule, I guess. Man's gotta be (probably) the most in-demand actor in the UK. 

[Richard Penna 3,694]

Tennant as Snape? Problem with that for me is that after playing the Doctor for years and playing an all-round good-guy, I struggle to see him playing someone we're supposed to hate for almost the entire film series.

 

Of course, he's a good actor, and good actors can escape typecasting and give fine performances, but I'm still not quite seeing him playing such a character.

 

Rickman may not have quite matched the Snape I pictured from the books, but then almost no one did, and he was cold, slippery and generally not someone I'd want to encounter.

[DarthDementous 1,059]

9 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

Tennant as Snape? Problem with that for me is that after playing the Doctor for years and playing an all-round good-guy, I struggle to see him playing someone we're supposed to hate for almost the entire film series.

Kilgrave in Jessica Jones

[mrbellamy 6,287]

If they really must do this then it should set itself apart from the films by casting Snape and the Marauders closer to their ages in the books, early 30s. It'd be an easy way to alter the whole dynamic of the adaptation and lessen comparisons to the original actors because by going 15-20 years younger they'd almost be playing different characters. 

 

They need to find new emotional angles if they want people invested long-term and something they couldn't capture in the movies because of the casting was that James, Lily, Sirius, Lupin, Snape's lives were ruined by 21, they never stood a chance. In the movies the tragedy of that generation doesn't hit the same. Just from the photos in the films you could guess the Potters had a happy 20+ year marriage and then had Harry later in their 40s (in the middle of a war?) But in the books they were still babies themselves. Sirius being wrongly sent to prison for 12 years would feel different if you were made to consider he was that young. It would change the meaning of the whole thing and you'd feel the parallels more with Harry as he and his friends fight for their own future. 

[GerateWohl 4,370]

It will be really hard to find a new actress for McGonagall. Maggie Smith was so perfect in that role.

 

By the way, what about Hugh Laurie for Dumbledore? I am sure, he could do it well.

[Jurassic Shark 12,079]

Daisy Ridley? Perhaps JW could be persuaded to do the score then.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

11 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

Daisy Ridley? Perhaps JW could be persuaded to do the score then.

She is too young. On the other hand, if they go for a younger cast in general, I would LOVE to see Daniel Radcliff as Severus Snape. That would be fun!

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

3 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

She is too young. On the other hand, if they go for a younger cast in general, I would LOVE to see Daniel Radcliff as Severus Snape. That would be fun!

 

I doubt Radcliffe would be interested even if they offered, which they won't b/c I doubt Rowling would allow it.

[GerateWohl 4,370]

1 minute ago, Nick1Ø66 said:

I doubt Rowling would allow it

I guess you are right. Still I find the idea tempting.

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

J.K. Rowling Addresses Fans Who Plan to Boycott HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ TV Series: I Plan to Lay in ‘A Large Stock of Champagne’

 

 

[Mr. Who 919]

I saw that she confirmed that Peeves will be in the series.

[Jay 37,369]

“We’re in conversations with a number of different writers to figure out who’s going to be the person to lead that franchise for us,” said Dungey, who noted that any rumors that casting is already under way are inaccurate. “The first step for us is figuring out who this showrunner is going to be and once we get that locked down, then we can start having those [casting] conversations. The tricky part is the first two books, where the kids are on the younger end, around 11 or 12.”

 

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/warner-bros-tv-channing-dungey-ted-lasso-harry-potter-golden-bachelorette-1235881452/

[mrbellamy 6,287]

This thing is gonna be so much harder to get off the ground and all the way over the finish line 10 years later with most of the cast intact compared to the movies. 

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I also worry about the art design.

To set itself apart from the movies, it needs to look different.

But the Hogwarts we have is already absolutely iconic!

How are they supposed to improve on that??

[Nick1Ø66 4,718]

46 minutes ago, Pieter Boelen said:

I also worry about the art design.

To set itself apart from the movies, it needs to look different.

But the Hogwarts we have is already absolutely iconic!

How are they supposed to improve on that??

 

-Haiku by Pieter Boelen