HBO's Harry Potter Only Has One Chance To Win Back Its Doubters

Credit: MovieStillsDB Published Oct 24, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT Zach Moser has been writing for ScreenRant since 2022, covering movies, classic TV, and streaming TV. His areas of expertise cover a wide range of genres with a particular interest in horror and drama, and the conversations around the TV and film industry. When he's not covering the latest film releases or chronicling the latest season of a new show, he's writing humor pieces for McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Slackjaw, and Points In Case or working on short stories and his second novel. Sign in to your ScreenRant account HBO's long-awaited Harry Potter series is nearly upon us, and the show only has one chance to prove its doubters wrong. The upcoming Harry Potter TV show based on the eponymous books is set to debut on HBO on December 25, 2026, confirming that The Sorcerer's Stone has always been a Christmas movie. The first eight episodes of the show are going to adapt the first novel in J.K. Rowling's series, and a second season has already been ordered to adapt The Chamber of Secrets. This series has already provided a lot of content for people tracking its development and reception. It's a very charged topic. Rowling's views and comments, the success and admiration for the books, and the impressive movie adaptations mean that it's going to be difficult to discuss the show on its own merits once it airs. There's already a significant contingent of people writing Harry Potter off as an unnecessary addition to the franchise The first season of the show is going to have its work cut out for itself to not only appease the people excited for the show, but to rope in the doubters who may be fans of Harry Potter but are either content with the books, the movies, or their memories of the universe, and have no interest in returning. HBO's Harry Potter Won't Be Able To Rely On Patience With Skeptical Viewers Photograph by Lara Cornell/HBO Most shows get some runway in their first season, and audiences can overlook early struggles if it means that something is building for later in the season. Harry Potter is not going to have a particularly patient audience when it premieres in December, and that first episode is going to be crucial. Everyone knows the story of Harry Potter; most people could probably give you a beat-by-beat retelling of it if they thought hard enough. The HBO series is not going to have anything to surprise skeptical viewers because, for the most part, they are going to know what's coming. The series can't intrigue people with what's going on with Quirrell (Luke Thallon), or why Snape (Paapa Essiedu) hates Harry (Dominic McLaughlin), or even with the tease of more magical sequences; people know what's coming. If people who are already doubting the series aren't impressed by HBO's vision in episode 1, they're probably not going to stick around for episode 2. Harry Potter Season 1 Will Be An Even Bigger Test For Season 2 MovieStillsDB Harry Potter feels inevitable, despite the discourse. The franchise is massively popular, and somehow, it doesn't seem to have lost any of its influence, despite the final book in the series getting published almost two decades ago. A second season never felt like it was in question, and I think it's safe to assume season 3 is going to be announced soon after season 1 airs. Despite how strong a property Harry Potter is, nothing is guaranteed in the streaming era. It's very possible that, depending on how long there is between each season of Harry Potter, even the people nominally interested in the show will fade away and not come back for another. Expectations are extremely high for Harry Potter, and if season 1 is not a critical success or an audience success, and maybe if it isn't both, viewers are going to have trouble believing that HBO can keep the show going for another six seasons to adapt every book, and that may drive even more people away. Release Date 2026 - 2026 Showrunner Francisca Gardiner Directors Mark Mylod Cast Dominic McLaughlin Harry Potter Arabella Stanton Hermione Granger Alastair Stout Ron Weasley Janet McTeer Minerva McGonagall