David Zaslav has been meeting with J.K. Rowling about that Harry Potter series
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO also announced that the Harry Potter series is eying a 2026 debut
Aux News Harry Potter
David Zaslav and J.K. Rowling buddying up is unsurprising on many levels. For one, Zaslav’s mission statement immediately upon becoming CEO of the company was that “We’re going to have a real focus on franchises,” and Rowling’s Wizarding World is one of the most popular franchises of them all. Second, they both have pretty terrible reputations in the entertainment industry at the moment. Birds of a feather, etc., etc. And as recently as a few weeks ago, Zaslav and some WB brass were apparently in London to meet up with the writer about the upcoming Harry Potter television series, which they’re hoping to have streaming on Max by 2026.
“We’ve not been shy about our excitement around Harry Potter,” Zaslav said on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q4 earnings call on Friday (per Variety). “We spent some real time with J.K. and her team. Both sides are just thrilled to be reigniting this franchise. Our conversations were great, and we couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. We can’t wait to share a decade of new stories with fans around the world on Max.”
According to Variety, Zaslav pointed out that WB hadn’t made a Harry Potter movie in over a dozen years, which is a closer estimate than he made previously (although still conveniently ignores the flop of the Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them franchise, which ended quite unceremoniously in 2022). Presumably, he’s emphasizing those dozen years in order to reassure stockholders it’s not too soon to remake the same seven Harry Potter books again. But the Potter films cast a long shadow. Given that they’re always rerunning on TV, and are conveniently available to stream at any time, and the stars are still around and speaking about it frequently—including in an anniversary special released by WB—a lot of people are still going to feel like this is “too soon.” The devotion of the Harry Potter fandom is such that there will still be viewers, but beloved IP isn’t a guarantee of a big audience: just look at Prime Video’s Lord Of The Rings series, the foremost (read: most expensive) flop in a long list of failed spin-off, reboot, remake, and live-action adaptation experiments.
All that aside, Deadline previously reported that a number of writers were being considered as the Harry Potter series showrunner, and “In late 2023, the top choices were expected to go on to the next round in the U.K., potentially meeting with Rowling herself.” If Rowling, Zaslav, HBO and Max content boss Casey Bloys and chairperson of Warner Bros. Television Channing Dungey were all hanging out in London, it seems likely that they were narrowing down the candidates. Love it or hate it, expect more Harry Potter news soon.
48 Comments
“Oh, also, Dolores Umbridge was actually a trans woman.”
Ya know, if Zaz actually did that, it wouldn’t make up for the capitalist tax vulture junk that WB has done, but it would actually give him a couple of points in a positive direction.
By making the most detestable character in the entire series a trans woman? How is that a positive?
How is making the biggest piece of shit character in the books trans a move in a positive direction?
Liberals in a nutshell.(clap) more trans drone operators! (clap)
You’re a faggot
I think we should count on her shitty views leaking into this series, whether it’s villains suddenly turning out to be LGBTQ or Hermione coming out as a brave truth-telling bigot for no particular reason. (As opposed to opposing slavery until it became clear that opposing it turned out to be difficult and she decided she was OK with it.)
Zaslav is spelled correctly throughout the article, making the fact that the headline spells it Zazlov all the more glaring.
.
It’s misspelled very commonly even by the hoi polloi here. I’m not sure why that is, maybe because it’s an uncommon name using uncommon letters, or it’s a deliberate attempt to insult him by showing disregard for his name. I’ve even misspelled it myself once, early on in the Batgirl saga. It wasn’t intentional on my part, but I did neglect to check the spelling like I would almost any other time.
Go on…
1) Headline writers generally should be held to higher standards than randos such as us.2) https://www.imdb.com/video/vi1476181273/(I seem to have lost the ability to embed video, which is a damn shame considering the quality of this clip.)
I don’t mean to excuse the Saturday Afternoon in Paris editorial standards here, just saying that it seems to be a difficult one for many people for some reason.
I have found that when you paste anything from imdb then click on it, you just end up with a page full of Google results for imdb… everything. Youtube works though.
I think it might be because Zazlov is how it’s pronounced. It was only a few months a go I heard it for the first time; before that I assumed it was pronounced like it’s spelled(“slav” pronounced like in “slavish”).
So they can get most of the way done with the Harry Potter project and he can cut it all off for tax reasons?
But she keeps saying she’s the rEaL ViCtim in da CultURe WARz!! Isn’t she about to go to jail for her noble views about not shutting up about things that are not effecting her in anyway? That’s sarcasm, btw.
Two lovely people. Would hate it if an asteroid struck the location of their meeting.
Zaslav’s stubby, uniform teeth really bother me. No canines? It’s like he’s wearing an elaborate human costume but cheaped out on the teeth.
That isn’t even his final form!
He’s got a face you want to smother with a pillow.
He’s so PINK.
Vampire.
Frankly, I welcome a new Harry Potter series. I loved the books when they came out, and the films too, and now that JKR has become a trashmonster I’d like a shit HP series to utterly bury those nagging feelings I get now and then about revisiting her work.
Frankly, I welcome a new Harry Potter series. I loved the books when they came out, and the films too, and now that JKR has become a trashmonster I’d like a shit HP series to utterly bury those nagging feelings I get now and then about revisiting her work.
Anytime I hear about Zaslav it’s basically a story about how much he’s lubing his hands for the shareholders. The fact that he and Rowling, two of the most disgusting people in entertainment, seem to be buddies doesn’t shock me in the least
They deserve each other.
This seems like such a weird project. I can’t imagine that there are a substantial number of people clamoring for the same story they just saw, but longer and over several seasons. People complain about Hollywood running out of ideas, but remaking a series of movies into a TV show telling the same story is simultaneously novel and incredibly derivative. I am sure that there are some who will enjoy the extra information and new subplots, but I also imagine they are outweighed by both the people who find Rowling problematic, and the people who were invested in the movies who aren’t ready to see them redone with a new cast years later.I *could* see them doing something with Potter’s kid, like Wednesday on Netflix (which, itself was trying to nab some of those HP vibes), but redoing the movies that are played on one of the NBC Universal stations every weekend ad nauseum seems like a choice.
People complain about Hollywood running out of ideasHollywood isn’t running out of ideas, it’s running out of suits that are willing to take a risk. Studio execs are the idea gatekeepers and they are some of the least imaginative and most cowardly people on the planet.
Fair, good point
Oh god, no, I’d rather they remake the first 7 books than try to adapt Cursed Child.
I didn’t see/read Cursed Child (sort of over HP at this point), but I think you could ignore it for canon purposes or whatever and just have a brand new, unconnected series. The first took place in the 90s – update it for the 20s. Fix some of the more problematic stuff (like representation). Give them cell phones and the internet. Give the original cast the opening to cameo as parents when needed. I think that is way more interesting than watching a reboot and knowing exactly why Snape is such a dick to Harry (but won’t outright brutalize him) and why Quirrel is acting so weird the whole time.
my two favorite people
I abhor what Zaslav has been doing to WB, but he can go ahead and cancel this one.
Please millennials, let this awful series and its terrible creator go away. The number of people dying to see a crappier version of the original movies is concerning. Ya’ll need better heroes and better entertainment.
Finally, someone that can meaningfully cancel her.
Prime Video’s Lord Of The Rings series, the foremost (read: most expensive) flop in a long list of failed spin-off, reboot, remake, and live-action adaptation experimentsWas it really a flop? I thought it was like the biggest Prime show ever or something.
It might have been both. According to Amazon’s numbers, it had more than 100 million viewers, making it their most-watched show ever.But no one can really say how Amazon counts “viewers.” If I watch 30 seconds on two different devices, am I 0, 1, or 2 viewers? Independent reporting suggests only about 1/3 of viewers completed the series. That usually doesn’t get you renewed, but 1/3 of 100 million is still more than most series get. But is it a good return on $1 billion? Who knows! How much of that is sunk cost and how much can be clawed back? Who knows! How much of a tax write-off could Amazon get by canceling it after the second season? Who. Knows.There’s also the sting of not getting a single major award – no Emmys, no guild awards, no major critic associations. Bezos and Co. almost certainly planned on buying some prestige for themselves. Although initial critical reaction was positive, it seems it had soured by the time awards season rolled around.
‘“We’ve not been shy about our excitement around Harry Potter,” Zaslav said on Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q4 earnings call on Friday (per Variety)‘Tell me Mary Kate, does Variety, or for that matter, Deadline and every other entertainment site you site, ever quote you?
Man, they are going to make billions over the enormous potential audience that is old enough to give a fuck about Harry Potter and TV series period but also young enough to want to watch a kids show about wizards and conservative enough to not loathe Rowling while also progressive enough to not think this is all witchcraft. People who can related to feeling like an other who doesn’t fit in with regular society and needs a new community to embrace but also despise others who don’t fit into their society.Genius!
but beloved IP isn’t a guarantee of a big audience: just look at Prime Video’s Lord Of The Rings series, the foremost (read: most expensive) flop in a long list of failed spin-off, reboot, remake, and live-action adaptation experiments. That’s because it’s written poorly.
It looks amazing, sounds amazing, acting is good, all the elements are there except the story isn’t really interesting or entertaining.
Imagine the Lord of the Rings movies without the care taken to make you like the characters, without the compelling narrative, without you having any real emotional investment. That’s the Rings of Power.
This is why I don’t agree with people saying “no one asked for this” or “why make this adaptation when the previous stuff is already good”… Any adaptation can be worth it. It just has to be done well.
It may just be a personal quirk, but the character I found most compelling was the… proto-orc…? that we knew very little about.* When I found out the actor wouldn’t be returning I lost a lot of interest in the series.*Oddly, I just looked him up and found an extensive character biography online, but I only remember seeing about 2% of it on my TV.
You’re not alone there. Adar was a fan favorite. Well, if Rings of Power had fans.
David Zaslav and J.K. Rowling buddying up
Real Lex Luthor and the Joker team-up energy.
Even if she were really cool and normal about transwomen, those dumb books and movies would still be trash.
Great! Can’t wait for the show about pants-crapping magicians!
“Love it or hate it, expect more Harry Potter news soon.”
You don’t have to post it here?