HBO has cast Harry, Hermione and Ron for its Harry Potter TV series
Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout will portray Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, the BBC reported.
Potterheads the world over have been given a reason to look forward to Christmas this year after the first teaser of the new Harry Potter series dropped on Wednesday and announced the show’s release date.
Set in the wizarding world of JK Rowling’s beloved fantasy novels, the series is a full reboot, longer, crisper — and possibly even cuter — than the original films.
The trailer shows a bespectacled Harry — played by Dominic Mclaughlin — as he gets bullied at home by his family and at school by older, bigger children. His fortunes change when his admission letter from Hogwarts arrives, leading to him to join the elite school for wizards.
We also see scenes of him shopping with Hagrid (Nick Frost) and on the train with Ron (Alastair Stout) and Hermione (Arabella Stanton)
The first season, which will stream on HBO Max from December 25, bears the title of the first book — and movie — The Philosopher’s Stone, while subsequent seasons will also cover one book each from the seven-book series. The complete production is expected to take 10 years.
Of course, the news of a whole eight-episode season dedicated to each book will be met with enthusiasm by a fandom that has always been quick to point out details and plot lines that weren’t added to the movies.
Mark Mylod, who has credits on Succession, Game of Thrones and The Last of Us, will be in the director’s chair for multiple episodes in the series and his teammate Francesca Gardiner from Succession will be the showrunner. Music maestro Hans Zimmer — best known for his work on Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar — is composing the score for the series.
Rowling is an executive director on the project and some of the cast members have understandably raised concerns over controversies she has created off set in the past.
John Lithgow, who plays Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore, said he almost pulled out from the project over the author’s views. Frost was also quick to distance himself from Rowling, saying, “She’s allowed her opinion and I’m allowed mine, they just don’t align in any way, shape or form.”
Cover photo: HBO