Warner Bros Discovery has officially announced their plans to produce a new live-action series based on the Harry Potter books. The goal of the series is to be a more faithful adaptation of the iconic stories. This time, however, the Harry Potter series is rumored to include more people of color.
The rumor can be traced back to Jeff Sneider and The Hot Mic podcast. Sneider discussed the then-unannounced Harry Potter series and why Warner Bros Discovery would want to produce such a project. Especially given how popular the film franchise is.
Sneider explains, after telling users to take the rumors with “a grain of salt, like a big ass grain,” that “there were problems” with getting the original cast back. He claims that these problems interfered with WBD’s discussions to create a potential Harry Potter and the Cursed Child film.
“They didn’t want to work with J.K. Rowling for obvious reasons, and that it was particularly hard to get Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe back, particularly Emma,” he explains. “Emma is the toughest one to get back into this particularly, with everything that J.K. Rowling has said and stands for.”
“What I heard was that they tried to buy Rowling out,” Sneider tells his co-host, “but she requested an insane amount, so they just figured ‘Alright, if we wanna go forward with these characters, which we do, then we’re stuck with her. So it’s gonna be her, she’s not going anywhere – all due respect to Emma Watson or whatever – and then we’ll reboot it, because that is what J.K. Rowling is willing to agree to.’”
“I am told that they are serious about making this show, but it is also potentially being used as leverage to get Emma and Dan back,” he continues. “Like, ‘Yeah, if you guys don’t come back, you’re not gonna be [the faces of] Harry Potter anymore. We’re gonna find somebody else.’ And that’s easier said than done, right?”
He then added that the series will still be set in England:
“I heard there were talk of pitches being set in America, and in Paris, but Rowling shot those pitches down because Harry Potter is a British property and should stay true to its roots.”
Nevertheless, Sneider adds that there could still be one major change for this Harry Potter series in their effort to “cast more people of color.”
“What I’ve heard about this series is that they will make a concerted effort to cast more people of color in the show, particularly in regards to the role of Hermoine.
“She could very well be an actress of color,” Sneider adds.
And, while the cast of the series will no doubt be new, he suggests some veteran franchise writers could return.
“You could also expect some veteran Harry Potter writers to be involved with this show in some capacity.”
As such, we’ll have to see how this new adaptation of the Harry Potter franchise turns out. For now, though, we’ll have to take these additional reports with a grain of salt. But given how accurate his reports have been thus far – they certainly all seem like real possibilities.
In fact, Hermoine was already made black. Specifically when black actress Noma Dumezweni played an adult Hermoine for the 2016 West End stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. J.K. Rowling later approved depictions of Hermoine being black even within her own writing.