J.K. Rowling Says New Harry Potter TV Series Is “SO, SO, SO GOOD” After Reading First Two Episodes
J.K. Rowling has shared her thoughts on the new Harry Potter series coming to HBO, saying she’s thrilled with how it’s shaping up. After reading the first two episodes, she posted on X, “I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD!” She also said she’s not writing the show herself but is working closely with the writers, calling them “extremely talented.”
I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD!
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 21, 2025
The new show is set to start filming in the summer of this year and will debut in 2026. It’s a full reboot of the original book series, with one season planned for each of the seven books. While the show was first expected to stream on Max, Warner Bros. and HBO have now decided it will air directly on HBO.
Casting for the lead trio was announced in May 2025. Dominic McLaughlin will play Harry Potter, with Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton as Ron and Hermione. This came after thousands of kids auditioned in an open call across the UK and Ireland.
Several well-known actors have also joined the cast. American actor John Lithgow will take on the role of Dumbledore.
He admitted he wasn’t very familiar with the Harry Potter books before getting the part but has since started reading them. He said, “as the kids grew older [in the books], you learn more and more about Dumbledore, and he became a much more surprising, complicated character.” Lithgow plans to work with a coach to get the British accent right, since earlier Harry Potter films mostly featured British and Irish actors.
But not everyone is happy about the new show. Some longtime fans have said they will not watch it because of Rowling’s public views on transgender rights. Her past comments, including support for a UK court decision that limits legal recognition of trans women, caused a lot of backlash.
More than 400 people from the UK’s film and TV world signed a letter asking the industry to stand with the trans community. One of them, Paapa Essiedu, will play Snape in the new series.
HBO boss Casey Bloys addressed the controversy, saying in a podcast interview that HBO has worked with Rowling for many years and already airs her show C.B. Strike. He said her opinions are her own and will not affect the new Harry Potter show. “It’s pretty clear that those are her personal, political views. She’s entitled to them. Harry Potter is not secretly being infused with anything,” he said. “If you want to debate her, you can go on Twitter.”
Bloys added that HBO’s focus is on what people will see on screen, calling the story one of “love and self-acceptance.”
Rowling is involved as an executive producer through her company, Brontë Film and TV, and has been giving creative input during the process.
This show is still in the early stages, but between the excitement from Rowling and the mixed reaction from fans, there’s a lot of attention on how it will turn out.
It’s clear the new Harry Potter show is going to get a lot of attention, both from fans eager to revisit the story and from those who are critical of Rowling’s public views. It’s going to be interesting to see how all of this plays out when the series finally airs. What do you think about the new reboot and Rowling’s involvement? Let us know in the comments below.
