Harry Potter: Succession Writer Reportedly Among Finalists to Showrun TV Reboot

After being announced to great fanfare last year, work is beginning on Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter television reboot — and we now know another name who might be in contention to reimagine the Wizarding World. On Thursday, reports indicated that Succession and Killing Eve writer Francesca Gardiner is among one of three finalists on a shortlist to run the Harry Potter television reboot. The report does not name the other two writers on the Harry Potter shortlist, although Martha Hillier (The Last Kingdom), Kathleen Jordan (Teenage Bounty Hunters), Tom Moran (The Devil’s Hour) and Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) were previously reported to be in contention.

“We have been trying to be very close to the vest,” HBO chief Casey Bloys previously said of the search for a showrunner. “We haven’t gone out to agencies. We have our own internal process where we’ve been thinking about people but we have not wanted to go out into the world. Now that the news is out there, we will start working with the Blair Partnership and we’ll start going out to the business.”

What Will the Harry Potter Reboot Be About?

The Harry Potter television series would cover the entirety of J.K. Rowling’s book series, with executives previously hinting they hope the series spans a decade. Rowling would be involved with the new series in some capacity to ensure that it “remains loyal to her original material.” 

“One of the other real strengths of Warner Bros. is we talk about the great IP that Warner Bros. owns,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav recently explained. “But, for us, the challenge is that our content, our great IP — Harry Potter, DC, Lord of the Rings — that content has been underused… We think there’s a lot of shareholder value in attaching a 10-year DC — a real plan around DC, bringing Harry Potter back to HBO for 10 consecutive years, doing multiple movies of Lord of the Rings.“

Will Daniel Radcliffe Appear in the Harry Potter Reboot?

As original Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe told ComicBook.com last year, he doesn’t think he will — or probably should — return in the Max reboot.

“My understanding is that they’re trying to very much start fresh and I’m sure whoever is making them will want to make their own mark on it and probably not want to have to figure out how to get old Harry to cameo in this somewhere,” Radcliffe confirmed with ComicBook.com. “So I’m definitely not seeking it out in any way. But I do wish them, obviously, all the luck in the world and I’m very excited to have that torch passed. But I don’t think it needs me to physically pass it.”

What do you think of the newest details surrounding the Harry Potter TV reboot? Are you excited for the relaunch of the franchise? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

h/t: Deadline