Harry Potter Series at HBO Finds Its Showrunner and Director
HBO’s long-developing Harry Potter series has locked in two key members of its creative team.
The series has named Francesca Gardiner as its writer and showrunner and tapped Mark Mylod to direct multiple episodes. Both are Emmy winners for HBO’s Succession — Gardiner as part of the show’s producing team and Mylod as both director and producer.
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Gardiner’s credits as a writer and producer also include His Dark Materials at HBO, Killing Eve at BBC America and The Rook at Starz. Mylod has directed episodes of Game of Thrones and the upcoming second season of The Last of Us for HBO, as well as feature film The Menu and Showtime’s Shameless and The Affair, among others.
The Potter series was originally slated for Max, where it had been in development since 2021. As part of a strategy and branding shift for the streamer and its Warner Bros. Discovery sibling HBO, however, the series — along with It prequel Welcome to Derry and the just-ordered DC Studios drama Lanterns — will become HBO originals, meaning that they’ll air on the cable channel as well as stream on Max.
The Harry Potter series will be a “faithful adaptation” of author J.K. Rowling’s mega-selling fantasy series about the young British wizard. Per HBO, “The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail and much-loved characters Harry Potter fans have loved for over 25 years.”
Casting for the roles previously played by Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint — who starred with a who’s who of British acting luminaries in the film series — will be announced later. A date for the show hasn’t been set, although Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said earlier this year that a 2026 debut was the target.
Rowling will be an executive producer of the series but isn’t expected to have day-to-day involvement. HBO has sidestepped commenting on Rowling’s frequently expressed anti-transgender sentiments; HBO and Max content chief Casey Bloys said shortly after the series was announced, “The TV show is new and exciting, but we’ve been in the Harry Potter business for 20 years; this isn’t a new decision. We’re comfortable being in the Potter business. J.K. is a very online conversation. … It’s very nuanced and complicated and not something we’re going to get into. Our priority is what’s onscreen.”
Gardiner and Mylod will executive produce the series along with Rowling and her Bronté Film and TV partners Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts, and David Heyman, who produced the movie franchise. Warner Bros. Television and Bronté Film and TV will produce the show.
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