Chris Columbus on HBO’s Harry Potter TV Series: ‘A Spectacular Idea’—and What He Really Thinks About Those Voldemort Rumors

A live-action ‘Harry Potter’ TV series was first reported to be in development for HBO Max in January 2021. However, there were issues with rights to the franchise due to an existing deal with Warner Bros. that lasted until April 2025.

The series was officially confirmed in April 2023 and will be available on Max (formerly HBO Max). In February 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said the show would launch in 2026. Then, in June 2024, it was announced that the series would be moved from Max to HBO.

So far nothing is known about the show in the official sense, no actors have been officially cast, but Mark Rylance is close to being signed for the role of Albus Dumbledore. There have been rumors about actors, including Cillian Murphy for the role of Lord Voldemort. But these rumors haven’t been confirmed in any official sense.

Now Chris Columbus who directed ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets’ reacted to HBO’s show. Columbus expressed clear enthusiasm for the upcoming adaptation, feflecting on his experience directing the first two films, he noted that the TV format offers more creative freedom and storytelling potential compared to the time constraints of feature films.

I think it’s a spectacular idea, because there’s a certain restriction when you’re making a film. Our film was two hours and 40 minutes, and the second one was almost as long.

The fact that they have the leisure of [multiple] episodes for each book, I think that’s fantastic. You can get all the stuff in the series that we didn’t have an opportunity to do … all these great scenes that we just couldn’t put in the films. I look forward to seeing what they’re trying to do with it. I think it’s great.

Columbus also shared his enthusiasm for the idea of Cillian Murphy playing Voldemort:

Well, Cillian is one of my favorite actors, so that would be amazing.

Source

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!