The Numbers
- MuggleNet news posts: 179
- MuggleNet users: 97,856
- MuggleNet seen in: 200 countries
The Stellar Seven
These were our seven most popular news stories for the year.
- Hogwarts Legacy Preorders Being Canceled on Some Platforms
- David Heyman Gives Update on Harry Potter TV Show While David Yates Comments on Fantastic Beasts
- Warner Bros. Suspends Sales of Magic Caster Wand, Possibly Due to Dispute with Kano
- Beyond Ron: Rupert Grint Has Moved On
- Harry Potter Reboot Announced Alongside Max Streaming Service
- Harry Potter: Magic Awakened Has Begun Soft Launch in Select Countries
- Actor and Author Jessie Cave Talks Her Childhood, a Post-Harry Potter Career, and Motherhood
The Stories
January 6 - Evanna Lynch and MuggleNet’s own The Unofficial Harry Potter Vegan Cookbook both earned award nominations for the 2023 Veggie Awards.
January 7 - Fans were disappointed when preorders were canceled for the highly anticipated game Hogwarts Legacy on multiple platforms due to delays in development
January 11 - Hogwarts Legacy announced the list of voice actors starring in the game, including Simon Pegg and Luke Youngblood (Lee Jordan).
January 13 - Colin Farrell (Percival Graves) and projects involving Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody), Rhys Ifans (Xenophilius Lovegood), David Bradley (Argus Filch), Ron Perlman (Gnarlak), and composer Alexandre Desplat scored wins at the 80th annual Golden Globe Awards.
January 16 - Bloomsbury announced major changes to its annual Harry Potter Book Night celebration, which included rebranding as "Harry Potter Book Day."
January 16 - The 28th Critics Choice Awards saw wins for Daniel Radcliffe and a project involving Ron Perlman and David Bradley.
January 19 - VIDEO - A new cinematic trailer for Hogwarts Legacy was released, along with additional prizes for fans as part of the game's promotion.
January 23 - HBO Max announced that the first two Fantastic Beasts movies would no longer be available to stream after January 31.
January 23 - VIDEO - Five new Hogwarts Legacy promotional ASMR videos were released in sequence on YouTube, showcasing a winter scene and the four House common rooms.
January 25 - Several former members of the Wizarding World films' cast and crew were nominated for Oscars, including composer John Williams, who became the oldest Oscar nominee ever.
January 27 - Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter announced that Harry's bedroom would make its first appearance in the return of the Magical Mischief feature.
January 28 - The Alliance of Women Film Journalists granted awards to Colin Farrell and Dame Emma Thompson (Sybill Trelawney), as well as to a project starring David Bradley and Ron Perlman.
February 3 - MinaLima revealed the cover and release date for their illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.
February 6 - After four years in Melbourne, the Australian production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced that it would be closing in July 2023.
February 8 - Scholastic announced “refreshed” versions of the original Harry Potter covers illustrated by Mary GrandPré to celebrate 25 years since the US release of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
February 10 - VIDEO - Rupert Grint discussed life after starring in Harry Potter.
February 15 - The Wizarding World Shop by Fandom opened at the Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, featuring officially licensed Harry Potter merchandise.
February 16 - The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Japan revealed plans for four new attractions featuring magical creatures.
February 18 - Harry Potter: The Exhibition announced that it would be returning for a third stay in New York City, New York.
February 21 - A week and a half after its release, Hogwarts Legacy surpassed the sales of all previous Harry Potter video games.
February 22 - The HBO special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts won the 2023 Kidscreen Award for Best One-Off, Special or TV Movie.
February 24 - Two weeks after its release, Hogwarts Legacy sold over 12 million copies worldwide, making it Warner Bros. Games's biggest global launch ever.
February 27 - Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter celebrated its 11th year with the Discovering Hogwarts special feature.
March 5 - The Banshees of Inisherin, starring Colin Farrell (Percival Graves) and Brendan Gleeson (Mad-Eye Moody), won four awards in various categories at the 2023 BAFTAs and three from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts.
March 7 - VIDEO - Wizarding World game Hogwarts Legacy announced that releases would be delayed for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but its full soundtrack was released on YouTube to generate excitement for the game.
March 15 - Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter announced its opening day would be June 16.
March 31 - VIDEO - Daniel Radcliffe hosted the first episode of Sharing Space, a show by the Trevor Project dedicated to spreading awareness on the issues affecting transgender youth.
March 31 - VIDEO - The Critics Choice Super Awards named The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson (Cedric Diggory), Zoë Kravitz (Leta Lestrange), and Colin Farrell, the Best Superhero Movie of the year.
April 6 - VIDEO - Harry Potter: Magic Awakened launched in select countries after a long wait for fans.
April 7 - The flagship Wizarding World store in New York City, Harry Potter New York, permanently shut down VR experiences “Wizards Take Flight” and “Chaos at Hogwarts.”
April 9 - Warner Bros. suspended sales of its Harry Potter: Magic Caster Wand in the midst of a dispute with Kano, the creators of the Harry Potter Coding Kit.
April 12 - VIDEO - A TV reboot of the Harry Potter series, with J.K. Rowling as an executive producer, was announced.
April 14 - The Melbourne Museum revealed that it would soon be hosting the magical exhibition Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature.
April 15 - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child celebrated its fifth anniversary on Broadway with five days of giveaways, special presentations, and more.
April 17 - The Toronto production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced that it would close its doors on July 2.
April 17 - Colin Farrell (Percival Graves) earned a spot on Time’s 100 Most Influential People of 2023 list.
April 19 - Portkey Games unveiled plans for a new Quidditch-based video game, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions.
April 20 - Jessie Cave (Lavender Brown) spoke about childhood, her career, and motherhood in an interview with the Guardian.
April 24 - Popular mobile game Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery celebrated its fifth anniversary with in-game events and rewards.
April 27 - The Manhattan Rare Book Company announced it would be selling the earliest known copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone at the upcoming New York International Antiquarian Book Fair.
May 4 - The Harry Potter: Magic Awakened soft launch expanded to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
May 5 - Toronto’s production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child announced it would celebrate its one-year anniversary with a week of activities for theatergoers.
May 7 - Newly released permits revealed Universal Orlando's plans for the Wizarding World portion of its upcoming Epic Universe.
May 10 - VIDEO - Hogwarts Legacy released another promotional video to YouTube, this time with Tom Felton playing and commenting on the game.
May 15 - The Hogwarts Legacy release date for Nintendo Switch was postponed to November 14, 2023.
May 16 - Jam City announced big changes to Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery gameplay, which included exploring life in the wizarding world after graduating from Hogwarts.
May 18 - Peeves the poltergeist was introduced in the mobile game Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells, offering players bonus challenges and rewards.
May 18 - For the first time ever, all eight Harry Potter films were made available on Netflix for those living in the United Kingdom and Ireland.
May 27 - Harry Potter: The Exhibition was set to open in Macao in December 2023.
June 9 - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban made it onto BBC Culture’s list of the 100 greatest children’s books of all time.
June 14 - Harry Potter: The Exhibition announced plans to visit Barcelona, Spain, by the end of 2023.
June 16 - VIDEO - Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis, and Evanna Lynch attended the opening day for Warner Bros. Studio Tour Tokyo – The Making of Harry Potter.
June 21 - VIDEO - The worldwide launch of Harry Potter: Magic Awakened was announced to be June 27.
June 29 - Warner Bros. Discovery Global Entertainment and Neon announced Harry Potter: Visions of Magic, an interactive art experience scheduled to kick off with a European tour in late 2023.
June 29 - VIDEO - Miriam Margolyes (Pomona Sprout) was featured in the July 2023 edition of British Vogue.
July 8 - Evanna Lynch announced she would be partnering with Twinkl and Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter to host a virtual event for Bloomsbury’s Harry Potter Book Day 2023.
July 10 - A new Chocolate Frog card featuring famed wizarding world writer Beatrix Bloxam became available for purchase.
July 11 - Harry Potter New York revealed plans to celebrate National Ice Cream Day by giving out free butterbeer ice cream.
July 17 - Daniel Radcliffe and Jessica Williams (Eulalie Hicks) received individual Emmy nominations.
July 17 - A rare first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone sold for £10,500 ($13,700) at auction.
July 19 - VIDEO - Popular mobile game Harry Potter: Puzzles & Spells released two new features, Broom Race and Featured Creatures.
July 22 - The Jacobite steam train featured as the Hogwarts Express in the Harry Potter films was suspended due to safety concerns.
July 24 - Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter revealed plans for the year's Halloween and Christmas events.
July 25 - Jessica Williams was honored with an African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) award for her performance in Shrinking.
August 15 - The Jacobite steam train, better known as the Hogwarts Express, returned to service after a brief break due to safety concerns.
August 20 - VIDEO - Graphic design duo MinaLima revealed sneak peeks of their interactive illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban on Instagram in preparation for the upcoming release.
August 24 - MuggleNet published an exclusive Q&A interview with The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac illustrator Louise Lockhart.
August 29 - Universal Orlando Resort announced that Death Eaters would appear in Diagon Alley during the 2023 Halloween season.
August 30 - German fans who gathered in Hamburg to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the German translation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone broke the Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people dressed as Harry Potter.
August 31 - VIDEO - Bonnie Wright discussed Ginny's film characterization, the Harry Potter TV show, and the possibility of a Harry Potter and the Cursed Child film.
September 6 - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child revealed that a special version of the show would be available for schools to perform in 2024.
September 7 - Hansons Auctioneers sold an autographed 15th-anniversary special edition and an uncorrected proof copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone for £15,000 ($18,700) each.
September 7 - VIDEO - Harry Potter: Magic at Play announced it would soon be leaving Chicago to travel to Bellevue, Washington.
September 13 - VIDEO - Days after Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts director David Yates made comments implying that the Fantastic Beasts series was finished, Harry Potter producer David Heyman told Total Film that writing had not yet begun for the Harry Potter TV show that was announced in April.
September 16 - Scholastic announced activities and events to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
September 24 - VIDEO - A new Doctor Who trailer confirmed rumors that David Tennant (Barty Crouch Jr.) would be briefly returning to the titular role and revealed that Miriam Margolyes (Pomona Sprout) would also be joining the show’s cast for the upcoming anniversary special.
September 28 - Sir Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore) died peacefully at age 82.
September 29 - Hundreds of fans and colleagues paid tribute to Sir Michael Gambon.
October 16 - VIDEO - A Harry Potter and the Cursed Child North American tour was announced, set to begin in September 2024.
October 25 - VIDEO - HBO announced David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived, a new documentary produced by Daniel Radcliffe detailing the life of Radcliffe's Harry Potter stunt double.
October 26 - Broadway welcomed a brand-new cast for the sixth production year of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
October 27 - Universal Orlando Resort and Universal Studios Hollywood announced plans to celebrate Christmas in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
October 29 - VIDEO - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them director David Yates revealed he was surprised when J.K. Rowling announced the series would be five movies.
November 15 - Studio MinaLima launched an 11-piece collection featuring the design of the Black family tapestry as featured in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie.
November 18 - VIDEO - Universal Orlando Resort updated Hermione's voice on the Hogwarts Express attraction to better match Emma Watson's voice, while Universal Studios Hollywood worked on updating the locker area around Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey.
November 30 - Singapore was announced as the next location for Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience, marking its debut in Asia.
November 30 - Broadway Licensing Global ran a competition for high schools, with the winners earning the opportunity to produce Harry Potter and the Cursed Child before other schools in their states.
December 14 - VIDEO - Expected names were revealed for 11 Wizarding World attractions in the works at Universal Orlando Resort’s Epic Universe.
December 17 - Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience announced its next stop would be in Melbourne, Australia. It was revealed that the Auckland Museum canceled plans to host Fantastic Beasts: The Wonder of Nature. And Harry Potter: The Exhibition had plans to travel next to Munich, Germany.
December 20 - New information suggested that a Universal theme park was in the works in Bedford, England. A new Chocolate Frog card featuring Bowman Wright, inventor of the Golden Snitch, appeared at Universal Orlando.
December 30 - The first US high school and the first UK high school to stage Harry Potter and the Cursed Child were revealed.
