Our patronus is in the shape of a scriptwriter.
As reported earlier this week, HBO and Warner Brothers are in early development of a new Harry Potter TV show, with no writers or cast are currently attached, and no details on how it could fit into the Harry Potter timeline.
There have been meetings with many creatives in Hollywood to discuss how to bring the hugely popular franchise into the world of television, and while we’re not entirely sure what we do want the show to be about, we have five very clear ideas of what we definitely DO NOT want the show to be about.
REMAKING THE BOOKS
No. Just no. We’re not ready. Not enough time has passed. The Deathly Hallows Part II only came out ten years ago, this is too soon to be restarting all over again. We know that it will happen, eventually. Just not now.
ANY KIND OF PREQUEL
As we’ve said before, 99% of prequels just aren’t as good as the movies they’re prequel’ing. This has already been proven in the Harry Potter movie world, as the two Fantastic Beasts movies simply don’t stack up. Plus there’s a third one on the way, so they’ve got the whole prequel angle sorted.
We don’t need (or want) an origin story of Hogwarts, or Tom Riddle, or any of that. One of the reasons why we love the Harry Potter books and movies so much is because it features magic in our modern world, a here-and-now sense of fantasy and wonder. More of that, please.
FOCUSING ON THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC
Since the show is being picked up by HBO, you might think that it might start leaning into a more mature audience, and more mature storytelling. But don’t fret, because (A) Warners owns the rights to Harry Potter, and they own HBO, which is why the show will be on there, and (B) nobody wants to see a Harry Potter series that is just for adults. Sure, continue in the darker direction that the film series was heading in from Prisoner of Azkaban onwards, but not so far in that direction that kids can’t watch it all.
This also means not setting the entire show in the paperwork-and-meetings world of the Ministry of Magic. There is a lot to the Ministry that still remains a secret to many readers and viewers, primarily because setting a show in an office just doesn’t feel particularly magical to us. It would be unwise to take the story out of Hogwarts entirely, but having said that…
A BRAND NEW SET OF KIDS ARRIVING AT HOGWARTS
This would be what the folks in the industry call “a soft reboot”. It is, for all intents and purposes, a sequel, but is also effectively telling the exact same story as before, but with different characters. Examples such as The Force Awakens and A New Hope, or Jurassic World and Jurassic Park.
It would be remarkably easy to just wander down that same well-trodden path again, with new kids uncovering mysteries, building up to a new big threat, but all you need to do is look at The Rise of Skywalker or Fallen Kingdom to see how quickly that hit of nostalgia wears off and viewers sour to the fact that they’re just getting reheated goods.
GROWN-UP HARRY POTTER
Another mistake that can be learned by the Star Wars movie franchise is not to think that your lead character is needed for the series to continue successfully. Finding out that Rey and Kylo Ren were related to the characters from the original trilogy just smacked of laziness; the entire universe is at your disposal, but we can’t seem to get away from the same two family trees over and over again.
So thinking that the Harry Potter show needs to tell more stories about Harry Potter is a mistake, because we’ve seen his story. It is done. However, if the show wanted to focus on Hermoine (still played by now-better-actress Emma Watson), who returns to Hogwarts as a teacher, and gets caught up in a new, slowly unravelling evil plot, now that is a show we would be totally on board for.
Call us, Hollywood! We’ve got ideas!
