Max (the artist formerly known as HBO Max) announced a new Harry Potter TV series, and I just need to know … who is this for? That is, even if J.K. Rowling hadn’t made “transphobe” her primary personality trait and turned us all off of the franchise. Who wants this? It’s certainly not for fans from when the books were coming out. We had our movies and, for the most part, that’s something fans still cherish because Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint have all come out in support of the trans community. Erase those who represent the few good things left about this series just to give J.K. Rowling more money? No thanks.
The idea, apparently, is that this new series will be more faithful to the books than those movies—which isn’t necessarily a good thing given that the books have plenty of problems even without Rowling’s transphobic crusade. And given the desire from Rowling to keep trying to make money on the side to help her with her successful Twitter troll career that’s taken over most of her time, you’d think they’d maybe make something original in the wizarding world. But instead, they’re just going to … adapt the books that have already been adapted into a successful movie franchise that would make a TV series redundant.
On the one hand, I am so glad she seems to refuse to touch the Marauders. That means I can write my own stories with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin kissing all on my own and leave her out of it. But the question remains: Who is this for? When the original book series came out, there was a period of about four years between when a book came out and the accompanying movie was released. We, as children, were waiting for the next book to come out and fascinated by the unfolding story.
Now, that “magic” is gone. None of us are kids, and kids now already have the movies, so what’s the point of this series other than to try to make money?
This just reeks of a cash grab, which is funny given how abysmal the last Fantastic Beasts movie did. It crossed $407 million and was the lowest box office total of the Wizarding World franchise. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child isn’t making nearly as much money as it once was, whether due to COVID or Rowling’s own statements remains to be seen. So now, instead of trying to make up some new original thing to draw fans teetering on the “Should I actively contribute to the platform of someone attacking the trans community, or should I just not watch a fully superfluous show about a wizard?” line, they’re just remaking the same thing again.
It is, frankly, laughable! A large portion of the fanbase has been alienated by the author herself, and those who haven’t been still have no real reason to be interested in this when the original movies and cast are so beloved. Sure, it all comes down to money, and greedy executives are probably looking at the financial success of Hogwarts Legacy, despite all the backlash, and feeling like this is a good financial move, but assuming all Harry Potter things are equally interesting to remaining fans is questionable logic at best.
Even if they wanted to hand Rowling money to continue her quest as the number one villain, they could have at least tried to make this something worthy of anyone’s time. Now, it’s just a pointless remake not 12 years after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part II.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
