Every Harry Potter Fan Will Be At Least 10 Years Older Before HBO’s TV Show Actually Becomes Worthwhile

The news about HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV remake has stirred up a lot of excitement, but it will be the better part of a decade before the series really pays off. The main appeal of a remake is the opportunity to finally see some of the biggest moments of the Harry Potter books brought to the screen. Though the movies are beloved, they notoriously skipped over or altered key aspects of Harry’s story. Of course, this was necessary, given the limitations of movie adaptations. HBO’s TV remake will have a much longer format, making it possible for some of the greatest crimes of the movies to be repaired—but it will be a long wait before any of this actually happens.

HBO announced its Harry Potter TV remake in April 2023, and this instantly inspired discussions about all the excitement to come. We know that author J.K. Rowling will serve as an executive producer, that the new series will be a “book faithful” adaptation, and that each season will be dedicated to each Harry Potter book. This means there will be far more room to tell Harry’s story—a chance to remedy the movies’ biggest changes and omissions. Still, it will be a few years before season 1 of the Harry Potter remake hits Max, and several more before the series reaches the plot points fans are most eager to see.

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The Harry Potter Movies’ Greatest Crimes Can’t Be Fixed For About A Decade

The Harry Potter movies are far from perfect, but the first couple of installments of the series were far more faithful to Rowling’s books. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets contained simpler stories, so the first couple seasons of HBO’s Harry Potter remake won’t see the series payoff. It isn’t until Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban that the movies really began to commit book-to-screen crimes, and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are what fans are really eager to see remade in their full book glory. Since these are among the last installments of the series, it will be at least a decade before HBO gets to them.

HBO Notoriously Takes A Long Time Between Announcing & Premiering A Series

Though there is still no word on when the Harry Potter remake will hit Max, past HBO series indicate that it will be a few years before the events of Philosopher’s Stone will begin streaming. For example, the Game of Thrones spinoff, House of the Dragon, was officially ordered by HBO in 2019, and season 1 didn’t air until three years later in 2022. Since the Harry Potter remake was announced in 2023, the earliest we can hope to see the series on Max is 2025—and this is still being generous with HBO’s typical timeline.

HBO tends to release new seasons for its series every two years (season 2 of House of the Dragon is expected in 2024). Since Rowling’s story will follow the Golden Trio as they grow up, time isn’t a luxury HBO can afford. Thankfully, Max has already announced a 10-year plan for Harry Potter, indicating that there will be a new season yearly for at least the first four books. After that, the remake will either release new seasons every two years or dedicate two full seasons for the fifth, sixth, and seventh Harry Potter books. This means that with a 2026 season 1 premiere, fans shouldn’t expect to see the biggest crimes of the movies repaired until Half-Blood Prince is adapted in 2032 or 2033—when we are all almost a decade older.

The Harry Potter Remake Will Have to Get Creative To Keep The First Seasons Interesting

Many of the scenes that Harry Potter fans are eager to see on-screen happened in the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows books. This includes the Pensieve memories of Lord Voldemort’s past and family history, the less-awkward versions of Harry’s romance with Ginny, Severus Snape’s death in the Shrieking Shack rather than the boathouse, and Harry and Voldemort’s final battle. Of course, given the estimates based on HBO’s typical timelines, these moments won’t be adapted until the 2030s. So, audiences will have to stick with the Harry Potter remake through several seasons to get that big payoff.

This means HBO will need to find a way to make the earlier season of the Harry Potter remake, which will cover Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, interesting enough to make it worth it. This will be even more challenging considering the movies based on these two books are considered iconic today, full of great, quotable moments that won’t be easy for the Harry Potter remake to top. The series absolutely must include every book scene that didn’t make it into the movies (like Nearly Headless Nick’s Deathday party), or fans are likely to abandon ship before there’s ever even a chance to get into the beefier parts of Harry’s story.