Warner Bros. Discovery introduced that its upcoming “Harry Potter” collection will begin taking pictures this summer season at Leavesden, the place the films had been additionally filmed.
During a presentation on the Warner Bros. Discovery’s headquarters in London on Thursday, showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod revealed that the present had auditioned 32,000 youngsters for the lead roles, and that the casting crew is presently reviewing between 500 and 1,000 audition tapes per day with the intent to observe each single one. Though he affirmed they haven’t made any remaining decisions with regard to casting but, Mylod mentioned the subsequent step will probably be to “workshop with a few of our shortlisted candidates” in January.
Gardiner and Mylod additionally mentioned they are going to be sticking to right canonical ages for the characters: Severus Snape (probably being performed by Paapa Essiedu) will probably be in his 30s, whereas James and Lily Potter will probably be youthful, as they had been solely 21 once they died. Mylod teased that for the grownup characters, he’s seeking to proceed the custom of “sensible theater actors within the U.Ok.,” with the younger actors after all all being newcomers.
With the “Harry Potter” collection being set to air over the course of a decade, Gardiner mentioned she was excited to “actually dig into the character arcs” and discover Hogwarts extra, together with the lives of its employees, beloved and feared alike. Mylod agreed that their intention was to not “undo what was performed so brilliantly” with the films, however to evolve it. When it involves the units, Mylod mentioned they don’t need to “mess with” the Great Hall however he’s wanting ahead to increasing upon the structure of Hogwarts and exhibiting the way it might have modified over time.
The “Harry Potter” collection was formally ordered at Max in April 2023, and it was introduced that it could function a completely new forged from the favored movies. In September, the collection opened a casting name for the roles of Harry, Ron and Hermione and mentioned they had been “dedicated to inclusive, numerous casting.” Though it’s nonetheless unknown who will probably be enjoying the intrepid trio, Variety revealed final month that Mark Rylance is on the prime of the cashing wishlist to play beloved Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore.
The run-up to the collection has not been with out controversy, nevertheless, as e-book creator J.Ok. Rowling has continued to trigger backlash together with her views on transgender identification. However, HBO has stood by her aspect, telling Variety in an announcement final month: “J.Ok. Rowling has a proper to precise her private views. We will stay targeted on the event of the brand new collection, which is able to solely profit from her involvement.”
At Thursday’s occasion, HBO chief Casey Bloys doubled down on that sentiment, saying that he’s “completely snug” with Rowling’s involvement and “not involved about client response.”
