Harry Potter Remake

Akshatha Madireddy and Myrah Devnani

May 30, 2025

Fourteen years ago, the final segment of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which thousands of people went to watch. Now, something new is coming. A television remake of the Harry Potter series seems to be the center of fans’ attention. But are all the fans happy?

After many fans speculated on why they are remaking Harry Potter as a TV show, it was revealed that the original Harry Potter movies, while staying true to the book, removed many parts to make time and budget. Therefore, remaking it as a TV show gives more time to expand the plot and storyline, expanding characters, relationships, and world-building.

JK Rowling is the author of the original Harry Potter series. She made her debut with the first book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Despite Rowling becoming slightly disconnected from the Harry Potter fandom, HBO boss Casey Bloys reports that she has been “very, very involved in the process of selecting the writer and the director” for the TV series.

When asking the original cast members how they feel about this Harry Potter remake, the original Harry Potter, Daniel Radcliffe, states that he is “excited” to watch the remake and that, “I’ll be able to enjoy it with everyone else, possibly, with a slightly different perspective. It’s a nice thing that a whole new generation is going to get introduced to the stories in a new way. They’ll see it as a TV series, so they’ll probably have time to go into all the things. So for the people that were angry about things that were cut from the film, hopefully, they will finally be able to see the full version they wanted.”

David Bradley, who played Argus Filch, stated, “I’m assuming the reason they’re doing it is they’ll be able to include more of the story because they’ll have more screen time – a lot more than the films had. I’ll be interested.” He also thought about how the series will allow more book content to be included because the films had to “sacrifice quite a lot of plot and characters.”

We also have our beloved Dobby, a character loved by many people. Dobby is voiced by Toby Jones. When asked if he would voice Dobby again in the remake, he stated, “Of course I would. I’m very proud of that. Yeah, yeah, definitely.”

Fallon students have mixed opinions about the new series. Sanvi Shukla, a seventh grader and Harry Potter fan, remarks, “I don’t know if they can ever replace the movies so I’m kinda unsure about the remake, but I would watch it just to see how it is.”

Eighth grader Gia Malaca states, “I feel like it’s just an attempt to make more off the series.”

Some of the cast for the new TV series have been confirmed, and fans have many predictions for the rest. Starting with the famous head of Hogwarts, John Lithgow will be taking on the role of Dumbledore. He has been surrounded by the theatrical world since he was born on October 19, 1945. His mother was an actress, and his father was a theater producer. Lithgow’s father produced the Shakespeare show where young John made his childhood acting debut. Lithgow studied acting at notable schools such as Harvard and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He acted in his first film in 1972, the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues. For his Broadway debut, Lithgow played a British rugby player in The Changing Room and received a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. Following that, he performed in many films such as Bedroom Farce, Beyond Therapy, Requiem for a Heavyweight, Pet Sematary, The Crown, and Lithgow even voiced Lord Farquad in Shrek.

The iconic role of Minerva McGonagall will be played by Janet McTeer. McTeer was born on May 8th, 1961, in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. McTeer’s stage debut was made in 1984 in Mother Courage and Her Children. Her stellar acting won her an Academy Award for her roles in Tumbleweeds and Albert Nobbs. Her performance as Nora in A Doll’s House won her both a Tony Award and an Olivier Award. Fans and critics alike praised McTeer and called her performance perfect.

Snape, one of the most complex characters in Harry Potter, is now being played by Paapa Essiedu. Essiedu is a British actor born on June 11, 1990, and he has been featured in a multitude of movies such as “I May Destroy You” (2020), “The Lazarus Project” (2020-2023), and “Men” (2022). He is a talented actor, and at just 25, he became the first black actor to play Hamlet in the 61-year history of the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Nick Frost will be playing the fan-favorite, Rubeus Hagrid. Nick Frost has appeared in numerous media, such as the Three Flavors Cornetto trilogy, Spaced, Attack the Block, Truth Seekers with Pegg, and Paul.

Next up is our favorite caretaker at Hogwarts, Argus Filch. Paul Whitehouse will be playing Filch in the new remake. Paul Whitehouse is a British actor born in Wales, United Kingdom, and is known for his acting and writing work in movies and TV shows, such as, “The Fast Show,” “The Death of Stalin,” “Alice in Wonderland,” “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” “Finding Neverland,” “Corpse Bride,” and “King of Thieves”. He also co-created and starred in the TV series “Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing”.

The famous villain of the first film, Quirinus Quirrell, will be played by Luke Thallon, who was born on April 14th, 1996, and studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He made his debut in Mike Bartlett’s film Albion in 2017. He has also performed in Patriots, Present Laughter, and Leopoldstadt.

Warner Brothers launched a casting call in September 2024 and received over 32,000 audition tapes for the Golden Trio: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. So far, no decision has been made on who will play these starring roles. When Dungey who is overseeing the development of the new Harry Potter TV series, was asked about a timeline for announcing the actors who will be cast in the roles for the Golden Trio, she stated that, “We are not yet ready to announce the kids, we’re still working our way through that process.”

There is still a lot of information to come about this new Harry Potter remake. However, it is guaranteed to catch the attention of the crowd when the remake of one of the most famous movies is released. Fans patiently await more news about the remake, including the release date and the length of the series. Despite that, comments about the new TV series that HBO Max is producing there are overwhelmingly positive, with the media constantly praising it.

Sources:

About the Contributors

Akshatha Madireddy, Jr. Advertising & Marketing Team

Myrah Devnani, Jr. Photo Editor

Donate to The Maverick Newspaper

$25

$5000

Contributed

Our Goal

Your donation will support the student journalists of Fallon Middle School. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.