In the wake of an exciting first-look teaser trailer, questions continue to mount over who HBO will cast as Lord Voldemort in the new Harry Potter television series.
The wizarding world of magic will grace the small screen this Christmas, with an eight-episode run adapting the first novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
But, who will portray the dark malevolent Lord Voldemort?
No news on Lord Voldemort casting for ‘Harry Potter’ reboot
British acting heavyweight Ralph Fiennes lent his theatrical gifts to Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire onward in the famed film franchise, which wowed audiences in the 2000s and early 2010s.
Filling those shoes is no easy task, and the fan-casting rumour mill has pointed towards names like Cillian Murphy, Paul Bettany, and Tilda Swinton to take up the role.
Alas, HBO CEO Casey Bloys has no idea who will be cast as Lord Voldemort at this stage.
“As a rule, I would say any rumours – don’t [believe them],” Bloys told Variety.
“I don’t even know who we’re casting. I really don’t! I would take everything you read with a grain of salt.”
HBO not planning any ‘Harry Potter’ spin-offs
Harry Potter is arguably the biggest undertaking HBO has swung for since adapting George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series of novels.
Upon the conclusion of the global hit Game of Thrones series, HBO has since launched two spin-offs in the form of House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Don’t expect Harry Potter to get the spin-off treatment anytime soon, however, as Bloys confirmed to the Radio Times that the focus is merely on adapting the books as faithfully as possible.
“First of all, we’ll be so busy… adapting the books is going to be a long process,” Bloys said (it’s rumoured that adapting all seven books will take at least a decade).
“So, no, the idea is not to go into this and turn it into, you know, a DC or a Marvel, or anything like that. The idea is to go in and do the books.
“The opportunity, the creative opportunity, is to spend more time to spend more time with the books than an arbitrary two-hour runtime of a movie.
“There will be things in the show that were not in the movies, but also were not necessarily in the books, but are not off-canon, you just didn’t necessarily see them.”
Succession alumni Francesca Gardiner and Mark Mylod will act as showrunner and director on Harry Potter, alongside executive producing duties.
Dominic McLaughlin, Alastair Stout and Arabella Stanton will portray the core trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione.
John Lithgow will step into the robes of Professor Albus Dumbledore, with Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.
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