Hear ye, hear ye muggles — HBO Harry Potter news coming at you faster than a Nimbus 2000! Sure, we may still be seven months or so out from the release of Mark Mylod and Francesca Gardiner’s Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone on HBO Max, but that hasn’t stopped HBO from moving quickly to confirm the future of its ambitious Wizarding World reboot. Per Deadline’s reporting, the TV and streaming giant has already given the greenlight to Harry Potter Season 2 — presumably soon to be officially titled Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets after the second book in JK Rowling’s boy wizard saga.
As confirmed by Deadline, the second season of Harry Potter — which is due to begin filming later this year ahead of The Philosopher’s Stone’s Christmas release — will bring with it a little bit of a shake-up on the creative side of things. While Francesca Gardiner is set to continue as the series’ showrunner, for the saga’s second instalment she won’t be going it alone: Season 1 writer and fellow Succession alum Jon Brown is being promoted to co-showrunner for Season 2 as Harry (Dominic McLaughlin), Ron (Alastair Stout), and Hermione (Arabella Stanton) prepare to tackle giant spiders, bloody basilisks, and Moaning Myrtle.
“As we have laid out our plans for the overlapping production schedules to finish season one by Christmas and to return to production for season two this Autumn, it has become clear that bringing on a co-showrunner is the key to maintaining our momentum,” said Gardner in a statement following Brown’s appointment as co-showrunner. “I’ve loved working with Jon from the very first day we met on Succession through to these recent times together on Harry Potter. Not only do I have huge admiration for his writing, but he’s also a brilliant collaborator and a lovely person. We are lucky to have him.” Added Brown in his own statement: “I’m incredibly excited to be collaborating with Francesca as co-showrunner. It has been a joy to write on Philosopher’s Stone and I’d like to thank Francesca and HBO for putting their faith in me to continue this remarkable journey. Seems you’re never too old to get your invitation to Hogwarts.”
At the time of writing, production on Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone — whose veritable constellation of stars includes Nick Frost, Paapa Essiedu, John Lithgow, and Janet McTeer among others — is still actually underway. But with that Christmas Day release date looming, and plans for The Chamber Of Secrets quickly coming together, it won’t be long before we’re back aboard the Hogwarts Express for the beginning of another seven-year stint at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.