HBO’s Harry Potter Reboot Series’ Top Pick for Albus Dumbledore After Mark Rylance Is a DC Star All Fans Love
- HBO's 'Harry Potter' reboot series is about to begin its pre-production in the summer of 2025 with a new cast.
- Makers are reportedly considering Mark Strong for Albus Dumbledore, after earlier reports of Mark Rylance being considered.
- The series aims to explore J.K. Rowling's books in greater depth, with each of the seven seasons dedicated to one book.
It has been more than a decade since the wizarding world fans saw Harry Potter on screen. Based on J.K. Rowling’s fantasy novels, the Harry Potter film franchise became one of the most successful franchises of all time, and the cast members became synonymous with their roles forever.
Now, HBO is looking for a reboot of the franchise through a TV show. Already bound with a huge responsibility, the show now hints at a new promising casting for the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, which has raised fans’ expectations once more.
Harry Potter Fans React to New Casting Rumor of Albus Dumbledore After Mark Rylance
If anyone comes next to Harry Potter as the main character behind Lord Voldemort’s death, it has to be Professor Albus Dumbledore. Fans are familiar with how he was the one who strategized and guided Potter to the path of Voldemort’s death.
Dumbledore was portrayed by the late Michael Gambon in the movie franchise after the death of Richard Harris, and Potterheads imagine Gambon whenever the Hogwarts headmaster is mentioned.
Now, according to Variety, the makers are considering some new actors for the new TV show, and one of the initial names has been Academy Award winner Mark Rylance. Following him, a new report from Deadline says that Mark Strong is also targeted for the role.
Strong has been making strong appearances in big productions lately. The actor is currently featured as Emperor Javicco Corrino in Dune: Prophecy. For DC fans, he has been Thaddeus Sivana in the Shazam franchise and Carmine Falcone in the recently released The Penguin. Fans online have already started showing their appreciation and expectations from the potential casting.
Ngl I don’t really see him as dumbledore but it’s mark strong, dude is an amazing actor I’ll give him a fair shake
— 優木 せつ菜 🇯🇵 | Love Live Superstar S3 SZN (@Nljigakulive) December 7, 2024
Casting Mark Strong for a role is always a smart business decision.
— I have so many questions? (@english_shamar) December 7, 2024
This can work. Mark Strong has range
— joseph villarroel (@friezsnake) December 7, 2024
I'm liking this! Mark is such a good actor!
— I'mma Duck (@imgoingtoduck) December 7, 2024
It will be interesting to see who will portray the headmaster of Hogwarts. One important thing is that whoever the actor will be, he has to commit to seven long seasons, as each season will be dedicated to each Harry Potter book. The studio might want to look for a younger actor. However, Rylance, 64, and Strong, 61, are almost similar in age.
Harry Potter TV Show Promises to Be More Detailed Than the Movies
Max recently shared on X that the HBO original series will begin its production in the summer of 2025. The open casting call for the lead cast was announced earlier in September 2024. The studios are “committed to inclusive, diverse casting” this time.
Apart from that, the show is expected to dive deep into the details of every plot and storyline mentioned in the books. According to Variety, Warner Bros. TV Group‘s chairman and CEO, Channing Dungey said,
As somebody who is a huge fan of the books, the opportunity to get to explore them in a little bit more in-depth than you can in just a two-hour film… that’s the whole reason we’re on this journey.
According to Deadline, Harry Potter TV series’ showrunner and director Francesca Gardiner and director Mark Mylod revealed that the characters will follow their “canonical” age, which means Severus Snape will be in his early 30s and the Dursley family will be much younger than in the movies. They further shared (via The Rowling Library),
We have 8 hours to tell the first book, so we can dig into the real depths and crevices and how the language of magic can evolve.
Without the constraints of a movie duration and without worrying much about toning down scenes and characters, the upcoming show can potentially become a treat for the Potterheads who have been longing to see the unexplored pages of the novels.
The Harry Potter movies are available to stream on Max.
