Jared Harris, Son Of The First Dumbledore Actor Richard Harris, Doesn’t See The Need For HBO’s New Harry Potter Series
Casting calls have begun for the upcoming Harry Potter series, and it wouldn’t be surprising if most actors (young and old) are currently performing varying forms of black magic rituals to land themselves a role on the reboot from HBO.
Even alumni from the previous films have expressed interest in returning to the halls of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with Sirius Black himself, Gary Oldman, suggesting (or perhaps only jesting) to IndieWire that he could play the role of headmaster Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
However, there is one who is not very thrilled to see this inevitable rehashing of the franchise. During an interview with The Independent, actor Jared Harris was asked if he has any interest in playing Dumbledore. A role that his father (Irish acting legend Richard Harris) had filled for the first two Harry Potter films until his death in 2002.
He replied with a curt, “No, thank you,” adding, “Also, I mean, why do it? I don’t understand. The films were fantastic – leave them alone.”
Because studios only care about profit, Mr. Harris, and they will kick a dead horse’s bones into dust to get every last cent from it, but you are still not wrong. Unfortunately, nostalgia has become the new opium of the masses with Hollywood pushing every last batch their uncreative hands can cook.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced the expected ten-year run on Max back in April of 2023, and shooting is supposed to begin during the same month next year. No official streaming date has been set, but it’s expected to hit the small screen sometime in 2026, and one cannot help but wonder if it will also be April.
The author of the book series, J.K. Rowling, is attached as Executive Producer (which only shakes up another hornet nest by itself), but Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav appears optimistic.
“We’ve not been shy about our excitement around Harry Potter,” Zaslav enthusiastically told Wall Street analysts on the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call (per Variety). “I was in London a few weeks ago with Casey [Bloys, CEO of HBO] and Channing [Dungey, chairperson of Warner Bros Television] and we spent some real time with JK and her team. Both sides [were] just thrilled to be reigniting this franchise. Our conversations were great.”
Sadly, HBO has the cash to throw around for rehashing fairly recent material, and prequel shows to a remake (IT: Welcome to Derry, for example). Still, nobody ever talks about bringing back the classic HBO series Tales From the Crypt.
This could attract the most stubborn of old fans, along with a new generation of hardcore horror hounds (if done right!), and it wouldn’t be telling the same story over and over again. Apparently, that idea must not be divisive enough for executives to entertain.
NEXT: Transgender Activists Target ‘Harry Potter’ Creator J.K. Rowling Over Mother’s Day Social Media Post
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