“Harry Potter” TV Series Names Writer and Director, Switches Back to HBO from Max

After much anticipation and many reports about who was going to get the coveted job of writing the Harry Potter TV reboot, Warner Bros. has announced that Francesca Gardiner will be the show’s official writer and showrunner and one of its executive producers. Meanwhile, Mark Mylod will be another executive producer and will direct several episodes.

Gardiner is known for producing Succession, His Dark Materials, and Killing Eve. Mylod also executive produced Succession and directed some of its episodes, as well as directing episodes of Game of Thrones and the upcoming second season of The Last of Us.

Francesca Gardiner (Credit: Francesca Gardiner) and Mark Mylod (Credit: Bertie Watson)

Other, previously announced executive producers are author J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter film producer David Heyman of Heyday Films, and Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV.

This comes after another interesting piece of news yesterday, which said that the Harry Potter TV series will no longer be released under the Max brand as originally announced last year. Instead, it will be branded as an HBO original, with a delineation made between an “HBO show” and a “Max show,” according to Variety. Most of the major, big-budget Warner Bros. projects are now expected to fall under the HBO umbrella after all, with Warner Bros. essentially walking back a decision that many viewers felt made little sense in the first place.

The TV series can, however, also be expected to be released on Max, as it is the streaming home of HBO. It’s all rather confusing, but at least we know the Harry Potter TV series is moving forward. It’s currently aiming for a premiere in 2026.