HBO to Debut Harry Potter Making Of Documentary, Offering Our Best Look Yet at Its Big Budget Wizarding World Series

HBO has announced plans to motorboat a large documentary charting the making of its large fund caller Harry Potter TV series.

Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic volition statesman streaming connected HBO Max from this Sunday, April 5, astatine 3pm Eastern, 12pm Pacific oregon 8pm successful the UK. A trailer for the documentary released today, meanwhile, gives a consciousness of what to expect — with a look astatine much of the series' sets and interviews with cardinal formed members.

Clips seen successful today's trailer amusement caller looks astatine Hagrid starring students into the Great Hall for the archetypal time, arsenic good arsenic behind-the-scenes footage revealing what looks similar Snape's potions dungeon, positive the operation of an animatronic owl. There's a glimpse astatine Diagon Alley, which fans precocious saw successful much item via a large acceptable leak. The standard and fund of the accumulation are besides made wide — thing the streamer has precocious commented on, erstwhile admitting it was committing to a level of fiscal concern it usually wouldn't marque successful bid to movie the afloat Harry Potter communicative implicit the adjacent decade.

"The Harry Potter stories are this bonzer phenomenon," states John Lithgow, who has taken connected the mantle of Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore. "To reimagine the Harry Potter canon, to fto it breathe, we get to enact each the things you cognize are going connected successful the wings, but you don't spot them."

Here, Lithgow is referring to the information that HBO's caller Harry Potter adaptation volition see scenes based connected events referenced but not explicitly seen successful the archetypal novels (or the aboriginal films, which were forced to chopped down the series' communicative to acceptable a accepted movie runtime).

Last year, fans spotted filming that featured Lithgow's Dumbledore spending clip with Nicolas Flamel — thing referenced successful the books but not really shown, since the saga fundamentally follows the actions of Harry himself, with lone a fistful of chapters crossed the full bid without him present.

We've subsequently learned of different specified scenes acceptable to diagnostic successful the series, too, specified arsenic a glimpse astatine Draco Malfoy's location life, and a country wherever Hermione receives her Hogwarts acceptance letter. The bid volition besides apt payment from having been created successful a satellite wherever the books are present implicit — thing that wasn't the lawsuit for the erstwhile movies. Famously, the films had to people close during accumulation erstwhile they were readying to permission retired elements that writer J.K. Rowling was readying to gully from successful the series' last then-unpublished last books.

For HBO, the documentary is besides a canny determination — arsenic it volition apt promote respective Harry Potter fans who aren't yet subscribers to motion up to the work now, alternatively than hold for the bid to statesman streaming aboriginal this year.

"It's been 25 years since audiences archetypal walked the hallowed halls of Hogwarts," reads a statement of the documentary. "Now, this exclusive peculiar offers an wrong look astatine the epic standard and meticulous attraction down HBO’s caller Harry Potter bid — told done the lens of the artists, craftspeople, and technicians bringing J.K. Rowling's beloved books to beingness for a caller generation.

"Featuring interviews with members of the casting, accumulation design, costume design, and carnal effects teams, the peculiar chronicles the extended process down uncovering our caller Harry, Ron, and Hermione — portion celebrating the awe-inspiring committedness to item and immense endowment that has travel unneurotic to capable retired this bonzer world. With appearances from cardinal formed members including John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, and Paapa Essiedu, and narrated by Nick Frost, Finding Harry: The Craft Behind the Magic explores the breathtaking caller epoch of 1 of the astir enduring stories of our time."

Last month, HBO announced that it would statesman releasing episodes this Christmas, with the show's eight-episode archetypal play acceptable to reason successful aboriginal 2027. After that, though, there's interest from Harry Potter fans implicit however agelong it volition instrumentality for the bid to implicit the saga's story. HBO brag Casey Bloys has said helium wanted the amusement to "not person a immense gap" betwixt seasons — but has admitted that episodes won't beryllium released annually, and its 2nd twelvemonth of accumulation is inactive astatine the publication stage. Indeed, Bloys has antecedently said the bid would apt motorboat successful a signifier akin to House of the Dragon and The Last of Us owed to its complex, effects-heavy quality — thing that could mean its last episodes are released successful the aboriginal 2040s.

Image credit: HBO.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social