The Harry Potter TV series will begin airing in its entirety soon and is expected to be released on HBO by next year, 2026. Director Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter films, spoke about his excitement for the television series. Some of JK Rowling’s books. He also shared his thoughts on reports that actor Cillian Murphy has been cast to play Lord Voldemort.
Speaking to People magazine, Columbus said he thought it would be “awesome” to have Murphy play the terrifying antagonist. “Well, Killian is one of my favorite actors, so that would be great,” Columbus said.
Interestingly, Ralph Fiennes, who played Voldemort in the movies, also supported Murphy, 48, for the role during an episode of Watch What Happens Live. He said, “Kilian is a great actor…I would fully support Kilian.”
Additionally, Chris Columbus called the idea for a Harry Potter television series “brilliant” and thought it would give the series more airtime and give the producers more opportunity to stay true to the source material.
“I think it’s a great idea, because there are certain limitations when you make a movie. Our movie was two hours and 40 minutes, and the second one was about the same length (‘Harry Potter (See Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter) Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) Each book has (multiple) episodes. I think the fact that it’s available is great because we get all the stuff from the series that we didn’t have a chance to get to know about, all the great scenes that we didn’t get to put into the movie. I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with it.”
Channing Dungey, head of television at Warner Bros., says HBO’s Harry Potter series will be more detailed and “deep” than the movies. Francesca Gardiner will serve as writer and showrunner, and director Mark Mylod will helm multiple episodes. The pair won an Emmy Award for their contributions to HBO’s hit series Succession.