HBO's Harry Potter Has More Riding on It Than Any Fantasy Series Ever

Since the announcement that Harry Potter would be getting the reboot treatment, the pressure has been on. It had dawned on just about everyone in entertainment that the original feature film franchise had only finished a decade and a half ago, and therein lay a problem. What would adapting the same material again really do for the franchise?

These types of questions were put aside, even with the controversial nature of the project. Now that HBO’s Harry Potter television series is closer than ever, pressure hasn’t subsided. The upcoming show has more riding on it than any fantasy series before, even when compared to some of its most expensive competitors.

Harry Potter already had huge pressure to live up to its previous adaptations, but now it has to live up to other IPs in the fantasy genre. Cinematographer Adriano Goldman, who worked on Harry Potter , revealed that the show has become more expensive than Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings prequel . This is eye-opening, particularly because Rings of Power is about to go into its third season.

The series had years to build up to this point, fanning the flames of anticipation as Sauron rises through the ranks to construct the One Ring of Power. Harry Potter isn’t getting that cushion and instead has all the added pressure riding on the series. It wasn’t enough that the show had to live up to iconic portrayals by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint.

Warner Bros. has thrown money at the project, hopefully ensuring some quality comes out of it. Goldman went on to explain that a large portion of the budget was devoted to constructing massive sets on a bigger scale than any of his previous shows. As far as money allocation is concerned, this is good news.

There is no point in bringing Harry Potter back into the zeitgeist if everything is going to be on a green screen. Practical sets are part of the reason the originals came to life, and it appears that the HBO series is following in that same vein. Even so, the mere scale of how much money is being used could be a cause for concern.

It appears that HBO is more than confident that this series is going to take off. As popular as Harry Potter is, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the show will be a slam dunk. The show has to clear many obstacles before HBO’s faith in the project is rewarded.

To Prime Video’s credit, Rings of Power isn’t an entire redo of the franchise films. Though it utilizes many of the same characters, the show is largely an original story that is given quite a bit of freedom. HBO’s Harry Potter is quite the opposite.

Not only is it attempting to outdo one of the most beloved fantasy franchises of all time, but Harry Potter has a lot riding on the attempt to become even more book-accurate . With the benefit of having more time to focus on each book, the HBO show can cover plot points that the films were unable to tackle.

Book accuracy continues to be the party line at Warner Bros, even when some decisions are less popular than others. The trouble with this version is that it has to differentiate itself from its predecessor while also trying to stay true to the books, putting it in a strange limbo of adaptation.

The biggest challenge, however, appears to be the ages of its lead actors. Stranger Things already encountered the difficulty of sticking to a consistent schedule in this new streaming age. When working with child actors, they age visibly faster, throwing off the continuity of a show that is supposed to take place year after year.

This is especially challenging with child actors’ schedules. The three leads have to clock a certain level of school hours while also adhering to child labor laws. In the feature films, the child actors only had to shoot one movie a year. These new actors are scheduled for far more hours of work, causing notable scheduling issues for the production.

Harry Potter is already struggling to recast the cursed role of Ginny Weasley after Season 2. Keeping on schedule with adult actors is hard enough, but children are adding another element that Rings of Power doesn’t have to contend with. The Prime Video series has more freedom and flexibility than its fantasy competition does.

Warner Bros. seems to be banking on nostalgia and an established fanbase to carry the new Harry Potter series through, but this is a huge hill to climb. This television show is endeavoring to compete with what is essentially the most famous and popular movie franchise of all time. The same could be said if a television series tried to outdo Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. That's a tall order.

No matter how much the Harry Potter movies may have deviated from the books in some respects, there is no replacing them in the hearts of fans. The eight feature films captured the imagination of everyone who watched them, and for many, it defined a generation. Music, visuals, and dialogue are remembered fondly to a degree that if the new series tried to attempt it, it may be considered a cheap imitation.

The Harry Potter reboot will be able to add cut characters like Peeves the Poltergeist , but with the current footage, there is somehow a lack of magic. Many have noted that the color grading in the Harry Potter trailer is desaturated, especially in comparison to the vibrant movies that were initially aimed at children. The series has time to put this on the right track, but there is no doubt how much is riding on this version of Harry Potter .

Even House of the Dragon , which also requires a big budget from Warner Bros., is only airing for four seasons. A seven-season series in the world of streaming is almost unheard of, putting even more pressure on this new project. The stakes are high for one of the biggest properties in publishing history, and the amount of money poured into the project makes it even higher.

Found an error? Send it info@www.cbr.com so it can be corrected.