‘Harry Potter’ Star Confirms Massive Update for HBO Series

6 hours ago 4

Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape in HBO's Harry Potter series.

Published Oct 9, 2026, 1:00 PM EDT

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One of the most common issues people had with the Harry Potter movies, especially as they went further on — we're looking at Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix in particular — was how much content was cut from the stories. After all, you're looking at a 700+ page book condensed into the shortest movie of the series at just over 2 hours long. That's a lot of stuff we missed out on. HBO's new adaptation is supposed to fix that problem, and one of its villains has suggested fans could be getting even more time at Hogwarts than expected.

Johnny Flynn, who's taking on the role of the slimy Lucius Malfoy for the eagerly anticipated series — and debuting earlier than his character does in Chamber of Secrets — has indicated that the adaptation will run for 10 hours, while speaking about the series at the London Film Festival, although HBO has not officially announced an expanded episode count or runtime. Now, it could be ten episodes and 8 hours, it could be 10 hours and 8 episodes, it could be that he's mixed up, it could be that we're about to get very lucky.

HBO's Harry Potter Is Bringing Back the Malfoy Family

Flynn is taking over the blonde wig from the wonderful Jason Isaacs, who played the character throughout the original film series. He's joined by Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy — whom he described as "fantastic, despite being Draco Malfoy."

The cast is led by Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione, and Alastair Stout as Ron, alongside John Lithgow (Dexter) as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer (Ozark) as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu (I May Destroy You) as Severus Snape, Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz) as Rubeus Hagrid, and Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom. From Season 2, Kit Harington (Industry) will play Gilderoy Lockhart, while Rafe Spall (Prometheus) has joined as Arthur Weasley. Molly Hewitt-Richards will play Moaning Myrtle, Jasper Ambrose will play Colin Creevey, Lenny Rush (Am I Being Unreasonable?) will play Dobby, and Billy Barratt (Invasion) will appear as the young Tom Riddle.

The new Harry Potter series premieres Christmas 2026 on HBO and HBO Max. The series may also appear on Paramount+, or a new amalgamated service, following the creation of Skydance following the merger of Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount.