The Harry Potter The series won’t hit screens for years to come, but if it does, it could be the biggest project ever taken on by HBO in terms of budget. While Amazon’s Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has claimed to be a $1 billion project when all is said and done the harry potter saga could be pretty close that is what HBO chairman casey bloys has to believe when he said “all it takes” with regarding the money that will be available for the reboot.
The announcement of the Harry Potter series, which will completely reboot the franchise with an all-new cast and reportedly tell the story of one book per season. During the announcement, Bloys suggested that the Harry Potter series be given a budget equal to, or even more than, the massive $125 million per season spent on House of the Dragon. When comparing the show’s available budget to Game of Thronesnoted Bloys:
“[The Harry Potter Series] will be on that scale or higher. Whatever it takes to make a quality show.”
As seen with Power ringsno matter how big the budget and how much is put into a show’s visuals there are still no guarantees that the series will appeal to fans and if anything it will have to convince many before it can get anywhere considering the amount of opposition to the decision online.
Harry Potter’s reputation is directly related to the JK Rowling controversy
As much as they try to get away from it, at some point HBO will have to face the fact that there are many people who could be the target audience of the show who have strong feelings about author JK Rowling and her stance on transgender issues, and the fact that the Harry Potter franchise is being rebooted at all.
During the Q&A session that accompanied the announcement of the Harry Potter series and other HBO and Max projects, Bloys was asked his thoughts on the Rowling controversy, but refused to talk about it. He said:
“No, I don’t think this is the forum. That’s a very online conversation, very nuanced and complicated and not something we’re going to get into. Our priority is what’s on the screen. It is clear that the Harry Potter story is incredibly affirming and positive and about love and self-acceptance. That is our priority: what is on the screen.”
With each season seemingly set up with a budget equal to that of the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, a lot of faith is placed in the belief that once the show arrives, it will be able to attract Potter fans, regardless of their initial doubts and issues with Rowling. We’ll have to wait and see if it’s a gamble that will eventually pay off in the long run.