Published Apr 15, 2026, 6:00 PM EDT
Adrienne Tyler is a movies & TV features writer, with a focus on horror. She has written for Netflix, FanSided, & more. She was a regular guest on the Netfreaks podcast and was a YouTuber at some point. Guillermo del Toro said “hi” to her once.
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Two of Warner Bros.’ biggest franchises, Harry Potter and Game of Thrones, are preparing new projects, and thanks to them, they are officially switching places. Despite their main projects having already ended a while ago, the worlds of Harry Potter and Game of Thrones are still quite popular, and they have continued to expand in different ways.
After the Harry Potter movie series ended with Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011, it expanded with the Fantastic Beasts prequel movies between 2016 and 2022. Over at Westeros, Game of Thrones ended with its controversial eighth season in 2019, but has since continued through the spinoff shows House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Both franchises are still popular and continue to gather more followers, so it’s not surprising that they have exciting projects coming in the near future – what’s surprising is that they have officially switched places, with one going to TV and the other jumping to the big screen.
The Harry Potter Franchise Is Expanding To TV In 2026
After two movie series, the Harry Potter franchise is now moving to TV, but instead of exploring never-before-adapted stories, it’s going back to basics. The Wizarding World has now adapted the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, into a TV show, through which it’s also remaking the movie of the same name.
Philosopher’s Stone is the first step in a wider plan, as Warner intends production to span a decade, so all seven books in the Harry Potter series can be properly adapted, thus finally bringing a loyal adaptation of them. Of course, the Harry Potter TV show has a completely new cast, with Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout, and Arabella Stanton playing Harry, Ron, and Hermione, respectively.
The first season of Harry Potter consists of eight episodes and will premiere on December 25, 2026. HBO has already released the first trailer for the Harry Potter TV show, giving the audience a taste of the tone of the show, a look at the new cast, and a brief look at some scenes from the book that the movies left out.
The Harry Potter TV show is one of HBO’s most ambitious projects in recent years, as even though the Wizarding World franchise is still popular, it’s adapting a story everyone knows well instead of exploring others. Still, the Harry Potter TV show is an exciting upcoming release, and it’s the franchise’s first venture into TV.
Game of Thrones Is Finally Getting A Movie In 2027
Like Harry Potter, the world of Game of Thrones comes from a successful book series, but instead of jumping to the big screen, it found its place on TV. Created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, Game of Thrones premiered on HBO in 2011 to great success, being praised for its production value, writing, complexity, performances, and tone.
Game of Thrones is now regarded as one of the best TV shows of all time, though, at the same time, it can be found among the worst TV finales of all time. Unfortunately, Game of Thrones didn’t have a strong ending, with its final two seasons decreasing in narrative quality and making decisions that didn’t quite fit the characters. Still, Game of Thrones is very popular and one of Warner Bros.’ most valuable franchises.
The world of Game of Thrones is also extensive and rich, and has many more stories to tell and characters to follow. Not long after Game of Thrones’ controversial finale, the franchise expanded with the prequel series House of the Dragon, and most recently with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, also a prequel series but based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas.
Now, Game of Thrones is ready to expand even further, now to the big screen. During CinemaCon 2026, Warner Bros. officially announced that a Game of Thrones movie is now in development, titled Game of Thrones: Aegon’s Conquest. The Game of Thrones movie is expected to take its material from the Fire & Blood book, the same one that has been the basis for House of the Dragon.
The Game of Thrones movie doesn’t have a set release date yet, but the announcement came as part of Warner Bros.’ “2027 and beyond” plans, so, being optimistic, Aegon’s Conquest could arrive as early as 2027.
The Harry Potter Franchise Can Succeed A Lot More On TV
The Harry Potter movies were a huge success, which is why the Wizarding World was confident enough to expand with Fantastic Beasts – unfortunately, the latter couldn’t repeat the success of the Harry Potter saga. Many things went wrong with the Fantastic Beasts movies, and the franchise needed something different if it wanted to successfully expand.
Although I still believe the Harry Potter franchise could have benefited more from exploring other stories, such as the backstory of the Marauders or that of Voldemort, moving to TV, even if with a remake, is the best choice. As good as the Harry Potter movies are, they aren’t faithful adaptations of the books, but the show can fix that.
A TV show gives more time and space to properly adapt the books, bringing to life scenes and characters that the movies had to leave out due to time constraints (and budget reasons, too). This can be greatly beneficial to the franchise, as it can appeal to both fans of the books and novels, and to younger generations, too.
Game of Thrones Branching Out To Film Is The Step The Franchise Needed
After succeeding on TV with three TV shows, it was only a matter of time for the Game of Thrones franchise to expand beyond that. The stories explored throughout eight seasons of Game of Thrones had to be told on TV for the same reasons that Harry Potter will benefit from a TV show format, and it’s the same with House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Game of Thrones needed one big story for the big screen that could be told in a limited amount of time, and it finally found one that, at the same time, links to the TV shows and wider universe of the franchise. Truly, the next step for the Game of Thrones franchise was a movie, and its track record gives hope for a great movie.
Harry Potter and Game of Thrones switching places surely wasn’t something that fans of these franchises expected, but their new projects and places paint a bright future for both – and, of course, depending on how the Harry Potter TV show and the Game of Thrones movie perform, will be the future of each franchise in their new places.
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Created by J.K. Rowling
First Film Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
First TV Show Harry Potter
Cast Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton, Alan Rickman, Matthew Lewis, Bonnie Wright, Evanna Lynch, Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Richard Harris, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Alfred Enoch, Harry Melling, Gary Oldman, Robert Pattinson, Warwick Davis, Oliver Phelps, James Phelps, David Bradley, David Thewlis, Katie Leung, Jason Isaacs, Imelda Staunton, David Tennant, Jamie Campbell Bower, Timothy Spall, Robbie Coltrane, Eddie Redmayne, Jude Law, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Johnny Depp, Mads Mikkelsen
TV Show(s) Harry Potter
Movie(s) Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
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.
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Created by George R.R. Martin
First TV Show Game Of Thrones
Cast Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Sophie Turner, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Maisie Williams, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Iain Glen, John Bradley, Alfie Allen, Conleth Hill, Liam Cunningham, Gwendoline Christie, Aidan Gillen, Isaac Hempstead-Wright, Rory McCann, Nathalie Emmanuel, Jerome Flynn, Rhys Ifans, Matt Smith, Graham McTavish, Fabien Frankel, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Emma D'Arcy, Matthew Needham, Olivia Cooke, Milly Alcock, Emily Carey
TV Show(s) Game Of Thrones, House of the Dragon, A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms
Game of Thrones is a multimedia franchise created by George R.R. Martin. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is the basis for the award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones, which lasted for eight seasons. After the incredibly divisive final season of Game of Thrones, the series was followed up by the prequel series House of the Dragon, which also received critical acclaim.
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