HBO's Harry Potter TV remake has found its showrunner and head director in Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod.
Confirmed in an HBO press release today (June 26), Gardiner and Mylod were announced as the forthcoming TV reboot's chief creative duo. Gardiner has been installed as lead writer and one of the Harry Potter series' many executive producers. Mylod is among its executive producing team, too, with the filmmaker also revealed to be the director on multiple episodes of its likely first season.
All aboard the Hogwarts Express!Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod will executive produce the new HBO Original Series, Harry Potter, with Gardiner serving as showrunner and Mylod directing multiple episodes. Coming soon to Max. pic.twitter.com/h3kpoMcETcJune 26, 2024
Of the pair, Mylod is arguably the more well-known individual. The director's extensive work in the entertainment industry, and particularly on HBO TV shows, means he's an ideal experienced head to helm the series from a filmmaking perspective. Among others, Mylod has directed episodes of hit shows including The Last of Us, Succession, and Game of Thrones, all of which are considered to be some of the best Max shows ever made.
Gardiner, meanwhile, has penned numerous scripts for a whole host of high-rated series, such as HBO's adaptation of His Dark Materials and Prime Video's The Man in the High Castle. Like Mylod, Gardiner also worked on the multi-award-winning Succession; the screenwriter putting her producing capabilities to full use to oversee 17 episodes during its four-season run.
A busy time for The Wizarding World
Mylod and Gardiner's confirmed involvement comes less than 24 hours after Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) confirmed Harry Potter's TV remake has been relabeled as an HBO Original, meaning it'll no longer fall under the Max TV Original banner. It'll still launch on both platforms, however, when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter's TV adaptation is ready to be released.
Few other details have been revealed about the world-famous fantasy franchise's TV reboot since its original announcement in April 2023. However, WBD claims it'll be "a faithful adaptation of the beloved Harry Potter book series by author and executive producer J.K. Rowling. The series will feature a new cast to lead a new generation of fandom, full of the fantastic detail and much-loved characters Harry Potter fans have loved for over twenty-five years."
It's unclear which of the world's best streaming services Harry Potter's TV series will launch on outside of the US. Indeed, with Max recently launching in various European territories and eyeing a UK launch once HBO's deal with Sky expires in late 2025, there have been suggestions that the Harry Potter show will be a Max UK launch title in 2026 and unless HBO Max comes to Australia before then, it's likely Australian Pottterheads will find it on Binge. Regardless, there's a long way to go before we journey back to Hogwarts – on the small screen, this time – so we won't have a definitive answer until it's well into its post-production phase, whenever that'll be.
In the meantime, you can stream all eight Harry Potter movies on Max and Peacock (US), Netflix, Sky, and Now TV (UK), and Foxtel, Binge, and Stan (Australia).
