HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ Series Hires Writer, Director

Francesa Gardiner and Mark Mylod

Joe Maher/Getty Images; Théo Wargo/Getty Images

HBO’s Long-Standing Development Harry Potter The series has recruited two key members of its creative team.

The series named Francesca Gardiner as writer and showrunner and tapped Mark Mylod to direct several episodes. Both are Emmy winners for HBO Succession — Gardiner as a member of the show’s production team and Mylod as director and producer.

Gardiner’s credits as a writer and producer also include Its dark materials at HBO, Kill Eve at BBC America and Tower at Starz. Mylod directed episodes of Game Of Thrones and the upcoming second season of The last of us for HBO as well as feature films The menu and Showtime Shameless And The caseamong others.

The Potter series was originally planned for Max, where it had been in development since 2021. As part of a strategy and branding shift for the streamer and its sibling Warner Bros. Discovery, HBO, however, the series – with He prequel Welcome to Derry and the just-ordered DC Studios drama Lanterns — will become HBO originals, meaning they will air on the cable channel as well as Max.

THE Harry Potter The series will be a “faithful adaptation” of author JK Rowling’s hit fantasy series about the young British wizard. According to HBO, “The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of fantastic details and much-loved characters. Harry Potter fans have loved him for over twenty-five years.

Casting for the roles played by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – who starred with a who’s who of British cinema luminaries in the film series – will be announced later. No date for the series has been set, although Warner Bros. CEO Discovery’s David Zaslav said earlier this year that the goal was to debut in 2026.

Rowling will executive produce the series but is not expected to have any day-to-day involvement. HBO has avoided commenting on Rowling’s frequently expressed anti-transgender sentiments; Casey Bloys, head of HBO and Max Content, said shortly after the series was greenlit: “The TV series is new and exciting, but we’ve been in the Harry Potter business for 20 years; this is not a new decision. We’re comfortable in the Potter business. JK is a very online conversation. … It’s very nuanced and complicated and it’s not something we’re going to get into. Our priority is what’s on the screen.

Gardiner and Mylod will produce the series with Rowling and her Bronté Film and TV partners Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts, and David Heyman, who produced the film franchise. Warner Bros. Television and Bronté Film and TV will produce the show.