15 Years After Deathly Hallows Part 2, HBO's Harry Potter Reboot Faces One Impossible Task

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 dropped in theaters 15 years ago, and it ended one of the most consistently successful film franchises in Hollywood history. Based on the novels by J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter film franchise started its run in 2001 with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, directed by Chris Columbus (Home Alone). The film follows a young boy named Harry Potter who learns he is a wizard and enrolls at Hogwarts, an elite wizard academy.

The seven books were adapted into eight movies, with the last book split into two movies. That last film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, sees Harry and his friends gather with the students and faculty at Hogwarts to battle Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It is a perfect finale to a movie franchise that never faltered throughout its entire run. With four different directors and a fantastic recurring cast, it remains a highlight of the fantasy movie genre.

This year, HBO Max starts its Harry Potter reboot of the entire franchise as a long-form series. The television format allows it to tell more of the story from the books and pick up on dropped plot lines and characters that the movies couldn't fit into the running time. However, that does not mean it is going to work as well as the movies, and it has a long uphill battle to match the films for several reasons. However, at least the fans will always have the original movies to fall back on.

Harry Potter Ended Its Movie Run 15 Years Ago

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 premiered in theaters on July 15, 2011. This was the end of the long story that started 10 years earlier, and the audience had a chance to watch the cast grow up on the big screen. This film sees Harry Potter and his friends take the war to Lord Voldemort and finally save their beloved Hogwarts once and for all. Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint delivered a fitting final performance in their 10 years playing the roles.

The final release in the series was a massive success. The movie brought in $1.343 billion on a $250 million budget that was shared with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. That made it a financial success on every level. It was also critically praised, with three Oscar nominations and a spot on the National Board of Review's list of the best movies of 2011.

The movie set several box office records, including the best opening weekend ($169.1 million), the best opening weekend worldwide ($483.1 million), and the highest-grossing fantasy live-action film ($381 million). It helped set the bar for every fantasy adaptation that followed, including any further attempts to capitalize on the Harry Potter series.

Harry Potter Is A Rare Franchise That Never Faltered

The Harry Potter franchise also stands out for completing its run without a single disappointing release in the entire series. Chris Columbus started things off with the first two films, helping make the young actors comfortable thanks to his experience working with child stars for decades. He was followed by Alfonso Cuarón, who directed the best movie in the entire franchise, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

After that, Mike Newell directed the fourth movie, and then David Yates came in and directed the final four movies in the series, finishing with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. In the franchise, only two movies had a rating below 80% on Rotten Tomatoes (Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows: Part 1). Two of the movies had over 90%, with Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at 96%. The CinemaScore of every movie was an A-, A, or A+.

In all, six of the eight Harry Potter movies were nominated for a total of 12 Academy Awards. While the franchise didn't win any Oscars, it was no less of a success. In all, the eight Harry Potter movies brought in $7.7 billion worldwide, with $2.3 billion domestically. That is what helps it stand out as one of fantasy cinema's top franchises, and the HBO Max series will have a tough task matching up to what came before.

HBO Max Has A Tough Task Matching This Franchise's Quality

Daniel Radcliffe has made it clear that he doesn't want to add any pressure to the young stars taking on the roles of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. He even said that, to avoid adding pressure on the youngsters replacing them, he will stop discussing the franchise once the HBO Max series begins. However, that won't stop the comparisons, and that will weigh heavily on the new franchise.

The adult actors are also going to be hard to replace, as Paapa Essiedu will struggle to match up to the brilliance that Alan Rickman brought to the role of Severus Snape. John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), Nick Frost (Rubeus Hagrid), and Janet McTeer (Minerva McGonagall) are all great actors, but they are also replacing great actors, and there will be comparisons across the board.

The one advantage that the HBO Max series does have is being much longer, and allowing the showrunners to add in things that were left out of the movies. This includes everything from Neville Longbottom's role and the plight of the House Elves to more of the tragic backstory of Dumbledore, Snape, and Harry's own parents. That said, it all comes down to its execution, and the Harry Potter movies set that bar very high, especially with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.