Harry Potter Reboot Casts John Lithgow as Dumbledore

John Lithgow is joining HBO’s Harry Potter series to play Professor Album Dumbledore. On Wednesday, sources familiar with the deal told Deadline that Lithgow is in “final negotiations” for the role, though HBO declined to confirm the news. The lauded actor has won six Primetime Emmys in his career and has the range for such this eccentric role, though it is a little surprising to see this part go to an American actor. Still, Lithgow’s has proven his proficiency with a British accent — most recently by playing Winston Churchill on The Crown. If Lithgow is open to the decade-long commitment of this series and the inevitable scrutiny, his portrayal will probably go over well with most fans.

“We appreciate that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumor and speculation,” HBO said in a statement to Deadline on this report. “As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalize deals.” So far, the Harry Potter reboot has not confirmed any cast members publicly, but the series is expected to premiere in 2026, so work must be underway.

Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it had officially greenlit the Harry Potter reboot series in February of 2024, initially intending it for Max but later adding that it would premiere on HBO as well. Everything we’ve heard so far has emphasized that this will be a particularly “faithful adaptation,” covering every crumb of detail from the novels that couldn’t be depicted in the movies. To that end, the show is expected to run for a full decade, which means it may have more than seven seasons.

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That could be a big commitment for Lithgow, or any other actor considering this show. Lithgow is currently 79 years old, so if the show does go on for a decade, he’d be nearly 90 by the time he was finished. Meanwhile, the bigger challenge will be casting children as the main characters and then keeping the production on pace as they age. The movies struggled to do so, and all the recent discussions about prestige TV taking longer and longer to produce make this seem like the biggest limiting factor.

Dumbledore was played by Richard Harris in the first two Harry Potter movies, and after he passed away the role went to Michael Gambon for the remainder of the series. In the prequel films, Fantastic Beasts, a younger version of Dumbledore was played by Jude Law. The character is central to the Wizarding World franchise, and he wears a lot of hats in the main series. He must be silly, lighthearted and comforting at times while being powerful and wrathful at others.

Harry Potter is in pre-production now as far as we know, and it will eventually be filmed at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden. The show is expected to premiere in 2026 on HBO and Max. The film series and its spinoffs are streaming on Max now.