HBO has finally given fans their first real look at the upcoming Harry Potter television series, dropping a teaser trailer that somehow manages to hit the nostalgia button, the curiosity button, and the cautious-optimism button all at the same time.
The first season, officially titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, promises a fresh take on the familiar story, revisiting the beginning of the wizarding world with a new cast, a new visual style, and what looks like a noticeably bigger budget than the average streaming show about teenagers with emotional problems and magical homework.
Take a look for yourself, and see whether you are able to hold back those tears of joy.
From what the teaser shows, this isn’t a remake so much as a full re-integration of the books into long-form television, which means the story finally has room to include all the details the movies had to sprint past while trying to keep their runtime shorter than a Quidditch match played in slow motion. Even if some of the creative liberties stand out a bit more than others.
Still, Hogwarts looks appropriately enormous and feels full of whimsy, the tone feels closer to the original novels, and the overall production value suggests HBO is treating this series with considerable care. And the new trio look so naturally integrated into the world that it we feel just as we did back in 2001 all over again.
The series is currently scheduled to premiere this holiday season, and HBO appears to be committing to the long game. The plan is reportedly to run seven seasons, with each season covering one book in the series and carrying the same title as the novel it adapts. In other words, if everything goes according to plan, we are about to spend the next several years watching a new generation of students attend the most dangerous school in fiction, one semester at a time.
