HBO Max has found its new Boy Who Lived—and the best friends who’ll stand beside him for the next decade.
After an exhaustive international casting search that drew tens of thousands of hopefuls, the streamer has tapped three newcomers to lead its high-stakes Harry Potter series: Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
The casting announcement marks a key milestone in the rollout of one of Warner Bros. Discovery’s most ambitious franchise bets. The series, billed as a decade-long commitment, is positioned as a more expansive and faithful adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s best-selling novels, with the author on board as executive producer.
Francesca Gardiner (Succession, His Dark Materials) serves as showrunner and exec producer, while Mark Mylod—whose credits include Succession and Game of Thrones—will direct multiple episodes. Casting was led by Lucy Bevan and Emily Brockmann, who were tasked with the near-impossible job of finding actors who could carry the weight of legacy while making the roles their own.
Production is expected to begin later this year, with the series set to stream exclusively on HBO Max across all markets, including recent platform expansions into Germany, Italy, and the UK. The original film franchise will remain available alongside the new adaptation.
The series is a centerpiece of the revamped HBO Max strategy to reinvigorate its global subscriber base with high-profile IP—and few properties carry the international weight of Harry Potter.
