The Harry Potter franchise is getting rebooted as a TV series at HBO, with production expected to kick off this summer. We’ve been hearing a lot of casting announcements recently – and another one has just been sent out, revealing the names of nine more cast members, including Malfoys and Dursleys! Here’s the list, courtesy of Deadline: Lox Pratt (the upcoming Lord of the Flies) has been cast as Draco Malfoy, with Johnny Flynn (Operation Mincemeat) as his father Lucius Malfoy. Bel Powley (The Diary of a Teenage Girl) and Daniel Rigby (Eric and Ernie) are Petunia Dursley and Vernon Dursley, Harry’s aunt and uncle. Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd) will play Ron’s mom, Molly Weasley. As Hogwarts students Seamus Finnigan, Parvati Patil, and Lavender Brown, the show has cast newcomers Leo Earley, Alessia Leoni, and Sienna Moosah. And as minister for magic Cornelius Fudge, we have Bertie Carvel (Doctor Foster).
These nine new cast members join the previously announced John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Nick Frost as Hagrid, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, and Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, as well as newcomers Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton, and Alastair Stout as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley.
Each season of the Harry Potter TV series is said to cover one of J.K. Rowling’s novels, for a total of seven seasons. While the movies were able to fit quite a lot in, there were plenty of moments cut from the novels that the TV series will finally be able to bring to life. Last year, HBO released a statement saying, “Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.”
The synopsis for the show says, “The franchise follows the life of a young wizard, the titular Harry Potter, whose parents died under mysterious circumstances when he was very young. He was forced to live a life of misery and servitude to his aunt and uncle and their awful son before he was freed from his gilded cage when Hagrid extended an invitation that changed his life forever. The adventure begins as Harry and his magical friends Ron and Hermoine become students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, who come of age in a time of extreme turmoil where the threat of war looms close.”
Succession‘s Francesca Gardiner serves as a writer and showrunner on the series, while Mark Mylod signed on to executive produce and direct multiple episodes. The project was originally developed for HBO Max but made the leap to HBO last summer.
Are you looking forward to the Harry Potter TV series? What do you think of the cast so far? Let us know by leaving a comment below.
