While the Harry Potter series won't be releasing annually, the hope at HBO is that there won't be a lengthy stretch of time between seasons.
The first season will cover the events of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, and the plan is for one season to cover each novel in the seven book series.
"Our goal is to not have a huge gap, you know, especially because the kids are growing," HBO boss Casey Bloys told The Times (H/T Variety). "It's not going to be an annual; the show is too big and too massive. But… they're writing the season two now."
The first season is set for release this Christmas. Dominic McLaughlin stars as Harry Potter, with Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger. The show is expected to follow the books closely – though, considering each season will be eight episodes, there will probably have to be some embellishments in the early seasons to fit the runtime, considering the first three books are much shorter than later instalments.
So far, though, one mystery still lingers over season 1: who will play Voldermort? Rumors swirled that it would be Cillian Murphy, but the actor has "categorically" denied that he'll be playing the villain. Voldermort does feature in the first story, though in such a way that it would be possible to recast him later down the line – much as the original films did.
Harry Potter arrives this December 25. In the meantime, check out our guide to all the other upcoming shows worth getting excited about.
