The Harry Potter movies are now iconic pieces of cinema, and the musical score played no small part in cementing that legacy. It just takes a few bars of the opening melody to “Hedwig’s Theme” for millions of moviegoers to know exactly what song it is, if not sing along. Indeed, Williams’ musical scores for the first three Harry Potter films were a phenomenal late-game achievement, sitting high alongside the most celebrated works from his prime years, like Superman (1978), Indiana Jones, Jaws, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, and Star Wars. Even as new composers have stepped in and took the sonic regins of the franchise, John Williams’ music has still be used across so many other lanes of Harry Potter frachise promotion and merchandising, that it’s become an indelible part of the brand.
As HBO prepares to launch its new vision of Harry Potter, there has been a big question of whether or not the show would go with the John Williams theme music, or strike out and do something distinctly different. Well, today we now know the answer: HBO is going to follow in the footsteps of the Superman movies and replace John Williams with one of the greatest modern composers around.
Hans Zimmer Is Scoring HBO’s Harry Potter TV Series
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Warner Bros. Discovery has put out an official press release announcing that Hans Zimmer has been tapped to do the score for Harry Potter. Zimmer shouldn’t need much of an introduction: an entire generation of film fans know his drum-heavy themes for films like Gladiator, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel, and other Chris Nolan movies (Inception, Dunkirk), as well as Pirates of the Caribbean, Kung Fu Panda, James Bond, Dune and more recently F1: The Movie.
Zimmer won’t be working alone: he will be joined by his “Bleeding Fingers” collective members Kara Talve and Anže Rozman. The trio released a statement, saying, “The musical legacy of Harry Potter is a touch point for composers everywhere and we are humbled to join such a remarkable team on a project of this magnitude,” Zimmer wrote. “The responsibility is something that myself, Kara Talve and Anže Rozman do not take lightly. Magic is all around us, often just beyond reach, but as in the world of Harry Potter, you simply must look for it. With this score we hope to bring audiences that little bit closer to it whilst honoring what has come before.”
HBO’s Harry Potter TV series is written and executive produced by Francesca Gardiner. Mark Mylod will executive produce and direct multiple episodes of the series for HBO in association with Brontë Film and TV and Warner Bros. Television. The series is executive produced by J.K. Rowling, Neil Blair, and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films.
The cast is led by Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley and Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger. The supporting cast includes John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid. Also appearing in the series during Season 1 are Luke Thallon as Quirinus Quirrell, Paul Whitehouse as Argus Filch, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, Johnny Flynn as Lucius Malfoy, Bel Powley as Petunia Dursley, Daniel Rigby as Vernon Dursley, Katherine Parkinson as Molly Weasley, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Tristan and Gabriel Harland as Fred and George Weasley, and many others.
Harry Potter is set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max sometime in “early 2027.” Let us know your thoughts about how the show is taking shape over on the ComicBook Forum!