Hogwarts, long time no see!
HBO dropped a first-look image from the new Harry Potter series, featuring Dominic McLaughlin as the titular wizard walking away from the camera, sporting a Gryffindor cloak, with a quidditch broomstick peeking out. There may be more surprises in store for those awaiting the upcoming series, as Tuesday’s post featuring the new picture is coyly captioned, “Tomorrow ⚡️.”
Based on J.K. Rowling‘s bestselling book series and the eight-movie film franchise that spawned from it, the series is led by McLaughlin’s Harry Potter, who is joined in the series by Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger.
Production on the series, which is slated for a 2027 release, kicked off in July 2025. The cast also features the likes of John Lithgow, Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu, Paul Whitehouse, Bertie Carvel, Janet McTeer, Katherine Parkinson, Johnny Flynn, Bel Powley, franchise alum Warwick Davis, who is reprising his role as Professor Filius Flitwick.
Sarah Aubrey, HBO Max‘s head of original programming, highlighted during a keynote address at the Series Mania TV conference in Little, France that “there’s a lot of pressure, but it’s also very, very special” to reimagine Harry Potter as a series, per Variety. According to the outlet, Aubrey revealed that it was a “financial investment [they] normally wouldn’t make.”
Daniel Radcliffe, the first to play Harry Potter onscreen, revealed on Good Morning America in November 2025 that he didn’t “want to be a specter in the life of these children” taking on the roles from him, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson, but that he had written McLaughlin a letter that read, “‘I hope you have the best time, and an even better time than I did — I had a great time, but I hope you have an even better time,’” per People.
All eight Harry Potter films are streaming on HBO Max.