Official images are starting to roll out from the Harry Potter set, the new HBO “reimagining” of the franchise for TV, which at this point, does not seem like much of a reimaging at all. In addition to that being a rather wide sentiment, it’s also according to the director of the first two movies, Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, Chris Columbus.
On the The Rest Is Entertainment Podcast, Columbus was asked about the new Harry Potter show, and was struck by one newly released image in particular. Here’s what he said:
“So, I’m seeing these photographs … and he’s wearing the exact same costume that we designed for Hagrid. Part of me was like: What’s the point?” Columbus said. “I thought everything was going to be different, but it’s more of the same. It’s all going to be the same.”
“It’s very flattering for me, because I’m like, that’s exactly the Hagrid costume that we designed. So, part of it is really exciting, so I’m excited to see what they’re going to do with it. Part of it is sort of deja vu all over again.”
Columbus echoes a sentiment from many watching all this unfold, that it seems redundant to make a show out of a series of movies that most believed were great adaptations of the books. So what is the point?
The point is money and viewership, of course. Like many Hollywood reboots, it’s almost always not going to be about some unlocked creative potential. Harry Potter is a big franchise for WB, one of its biggest. Its Fantastic Beasts movies have petered out. They want people to subscribe to HBO Max (Max, HBO), and they believe a Harry Potter show is the way to do it.
While I agree that this is an eye-rolling idea, I think WB is right in terms of the idea that it’s going to get big viewership, and be able to run for its full duration over the next decade or so. The series is that popular, at least the original books.
As for whether it’s different, I’m not entirely sure that can be judged on a costume basis. I mean, this is a movie where 90% of the cast is just going to be wearing black robes the entire time. Another difference is the length, as each season will expand past a 2-3 hour movie into something closer to eight hours, meaning less cuts from the books and perhaps more expansion past them, for better or worse.
I’m not defending the project nor do I think it’s going to be terribly good, but you can at least see what WB wants to do here and what “the point” is, even if it’s not a good one.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2025/08/28/harry-potter-director-wonders-whats-the-point-after-seeing-new-images/
