The new flagship show for Max, HBO Max's replacement.
Last week, Warner Bros. Discovery held a panel that announced their new streaming service. HBO Max is being retitled "Max" and will merge with Discovery+ as well as some other, smaller streaming services.
This change will officially take place on May 23, 2023. There are a few new pricing plans and other elements that were discussed in the panel. A trailer for The Penguin (the TV spin-off of The Batman) was released. There were announcements regarding the It prequel, titled Welcome to Derry. The Conjuring is getting a TV show. Rick and Morty is getting an anime series.
But the big announcement (which we all knew was coming) was the official confirmation of Max's original Harry Potter series, a gigantic, 7-season TV adaptation of the books.
If you do not know, I am a massive Harry Potter fan. Since I read Sorcerer's Stone in second grade, this franchise has been an enormous part of my life. I own all the books. I have all the movies in DVD (yes, those still exist). I've been to the park in Orlando. I've seen the studio in London. I have a signed picture from Daniel Radcliffe. I was Harry for Halloween one year. This franchise, along with Star Wars and the MCU, is one of the biggest reasons that I love storytelling. So this is a big deal to me.
I also really don't like the concept of remakes. I think most remakes are pointless cash-grabs that don't do anything knew with great material. The prime example of this are the Disney live-action remakes. Most of them are just carbon copies of a better animated film in live-action format. Other films, like The Karate Kid or the countless horror remakes that we've gotten, don't do anything to change or alter the original. They just prove to be forgettable, inferior versions of great stories.
Every fiber of my being tells me not to be excited for this. Every time I think it about it, I know that there are so many things that could go wrong.
But I absolutely cannot wait for this show.
HBO has done nothing but prove that they make the best shows on TV. The Last of Us, Peacemaker, House of the Dragon, Succession...they are all very good to great shows. They put so much effort into crafting these amazing stories with great acting, direction, writing, and production. I trust them completely.
The Harry Potter movies are also movies. Not TV shows. The books have so much more to dig into than what appears in the movies, and a show offers an opportunity to do that. Plus, with modern technology, we can see more Quidditch or have cooler creatures and wizard battles. There is plenty of opportunity to give us something different and new, which is what I want from a remake.
Don't get me wrong: I have my reservations. They have to get the perfect cast. They have to capture that whimsical, magical vibe that only Harry Potter can hit. As I said before, there are a lot of things that can go wrong. But there are also a lot of things that can go right.
This and Stranger Things 5 are the things I am most excited for in the entertainment industry right now. I cannot wait. I think this will be awesome.
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