Summary
I am more intrigued by HBO’s upcomingHarry Pottertelevision series now that theseries showrunner has been confirmed,and she has ties to another book adaptation with a great Rotten Tomatoes score. As a remake of the beloved books and films, each season will adapt one of the books. While numerous episodes per season may allow the series to more faithfully adapt the source material than the movies did, I have been skeptical of the premise, as the movies are overall satisfying, albeit imperfect adaptations of the books, featuring iconic performances and scenes that can never be replaced.
With the announcement that Francesca Gardiner will be theHarry Potterseries' showrunnerand an executive producer, I am less skeptical, and even cautiously excited about it now. Gardiner has worked as aproducer and writer on several critically acclaimed series. Her production credits includeSuccession,His Dark Materials, andKilling Eve, and she has written numerous episodes ofHis Dark MaterialsandThe Man in the High Castle.
Harry Potter’s TV Remake Can Rescue 1 Character The Movies AND Books Got Wrong
The original Harry Potter books and movies did not do justice to one character’s story but the show has the opportunity to finally get them right.
Francesca Gardiner Being Harry Potter’s Showrunner Is Very Exciting Thanks To His Dark Materials
Gardiner Produced 6 Episodes And Wrote 5 Episodes
WhileSuccessionis the most critically acclaimed of Gardiner’s work, it is her experience onHis Dark Materialsthat makes me most excited about her involvement in theHarry Potterseries. As an executive producer and writer on themassively underratedHis Dark Materials, which has an 84% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes, Gardiner played an integral role in faithfully adapting the books.Shewrote the final three episodes of the series, which feature many of the story’s most ambitious and emotional moments. Thanks to her, the series finale’s bench scene is just as devastating as it is in the source material.
When reading the third book ofHis Dark Materials,The Amber Spyglass, some of the descriptions and narrative choices were so bold that I had a difficult time imagining them ever working in an onscreen adaptation. Gardiner’s writing not only did the story justice, butprovided an emotional depth that felt just as compelling as when I read the booksfor the first time.Her ability to faithfully adapt such material makes me optimistic about what she can achieve withHarry Potter.
BothHarry PotterandHis Dark Materialsarecherished series of coming-of-age fantasy novels published in the 1990s and early 2000s, following a young adult protagonist who undergoes the hero’s journey. Despite the similarities,His Dark Materials' fantastical universe, and many of its characters, are ultimately more complex than the universe and characters ofHarry Potter. This makes what Gardiner and the rest ofHis Dark Materials' creative team accomplished even more impressive and bodes well for what Gardiner and her team can achieve withHarry Potter.
Harry Potter’s Remake Has A Different Challenge To His Dark Materials
Harry Potter’s Movies Are Beloved, The Golden Compass Is Hated
Gardiner’s experience of adapting fantasy novels into a television series, after they’ve already been made into movies, is promising, butHarry Potter’s remake faces a far greater challenge thanHis Dark Materialsdid. That challenge has to do with the quality of the movie adaptations, withThe Golden Compassbeing one of the worst book adaptationsI’ve ever seen. It completely changes the ending of the first book, afraid to commit to the daring choices that the source material made, which further opened up the fictional universe and storytelling possibilities for the sequels that followed.
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The richly developed world in Pullman’s writing was severely underdeveloped in the movie, as were the characters and the overall story. Given how disappointing the movie was, I was thrilled when I heard that it would be adapted into an HBO series starring Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, andthe series easily proved to be the superior adaptationfrom beginning to end. TheHarry Potterseries will face a more difficult path given that the movies are still beloved.
WithHarry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stonebeing my favorite of the movies, I willinevitably compare every aspect of the show’s first season to the movie. No matter how book-accurate the series is, it will be difficult to win me over more than the movie did, particularly with iconic moments like Hagrid telling Harry he is a wizard, Hermione trying to teach Ron how to say"Wingardium Leviosa,“and the reveal of Voldemort’s face when Professor Quirrell removes his turban. Nevertheless, Gardiner’s central role in the series convinces me that theHarry Potterseries could be a worthy adaptation.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a multimedia franchise about an orphaned boy who enrolls at Hogwarts School of Wizardry, where he learns the truth about himself, his family, and the terrible evil that haunts the magical world. Adapted from the novels, Harry Potter is an eight-episode film saga that follows the journey of Harry Potter and his friends, Hermoine Granger and Ron Weasley, as they navigate the tricky world of growing up, school life, and magic. Starting from year one and moving to their seventh year, the films chronicle the students' time at Hogwarts while unfurling a sinister plot that centers around the unsuspecting Harry. With the return of the dark wizard, Voldemort, the students and professors at Hogwarts will fight to carry on as the world around them may change forever. Harry Potter has expanded beyond the world of its films and novels with several video games, a spin-off film series titled Fantastic Beasts, and even attractions at Universal Studios.
