Pedro Pascal, must be ecstatic about this latest news.
Brace yourselves, Potterheads and doomscrollers alike: HBO’s ultra-hyped, totally necessary “Harry Potter” reboot has finally cast its new Harry, Ron, and Hermione.
Dominic McLaughlin is Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton is Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout will bring comic relief to Ron Weasley. According to HBO, over 30,000 hopefuls auditioned — so congrats to the chosen ones for surviving the Hunger Games of open casting.
The trio will join a rather prestige-loaded cast: John Lithgow as Dumbledore (sure, why not), Janet McTeer as McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Snape, Nick Frost as Hagrid (okay, bold), Luke Thallon as Quirrell, and Paul Whitehouse as Filch.
The series is executive produced by Gardiner, Mylod, and — surprise! — J.K. Rowling, who remains deeply attached to the franchise she birthed, despite her Twitter feed doing its best to alienate half of it. When asked if Rowling’s trans commentary might taint the show, HBO’s chief content officer Casey Bloys essentially shrugged it off.
The upcoming series, which plans to adapt one book per season over seven seasons, is being touted as one of the most expensive shows ever made, with a jaw-dropping $2 billion budget. That’s around $300M per season, a number that puts it in the same league as “The Rings of Power” and “House of the Dragon.”
But it’s not just the budget raising eyebrows. The casting of Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape has ignited fresh debates online, with critics slamming the move as another case of Hollywood “wokeness” and race-swapping for the sake of optics. Others see it as a bold step toward a more inclusive reinterpretation of the Wizarding World. Either way, the discourse is already loud, and we haven’t even seen a single frame of footage yet.
With Warner Bros. betting the castle on this reboot, the last thing they need is more PR headaches.
Paul Greengrass’ "The Uprising," starring Andrew Garfield, opened to $3.2M from 2,068 theaters this weekend. Yikes. The budget hasn’t been disclosed, but is said to be in the $20-$30M range.