‘Harry Potter’ Series at HBO Taps Francesca Gardiner as Showrunner; Mark Mylod to Direct Multiple Episodes

Billy Bragg, who had shared a screenshot of a BBC article reporting Tennant’s recent comments about Kemi Badenoch, the British Minister for Women and Equalities.In May, Badenoch proposed the mandatory implementation of single-sex toilets in public spaces across Britain, claiming it contributes to “ending the rise of so-called gender-neutral mixed sex toilet spaces”, as reported by BBC. The proposal has since been heavily criticised by transgender rights groups, who argue that gender-neutral toilet spaces help protect trans people from discrimination.The night before (June 25), Tennant was present at the British LGBT Awards to accept the LGBT+ Celebrity Ally award.

J.K. Rowling is embroiled in a fresh row with another Harry Potter actor over transgender rights.

The original watercolor illustration for the cover of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone, the first book in author J.K. Rowling’s famous series, is now the most expensive piece of Potter-related memorabilia ever sold at auction.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Another “Frasier” alum is about to return to the series’ new revival: Harriet Sansom Harris, who originally played Frasier Crane’s agent, Bebe Glazer, is back for a guest role in Season 2. Joining her will be “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” star Rachel Bloom, who will play Bebe’s daughter, Phoebe Glazer.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences the org formerly known as Promax that relaunched in February, has revealed its new board of directors, as well as an honorary board of advisors. GEMA, which has expanded from TV to also include verticals devoted to film, music, sports and video game marketing execs, has also announced plans for a two-day event in Los Angeles this fall dubbed “Converge.” The news was announced Thursday by GEMA president Stacy La Cotera.

J.K. Rowling is set to be involved with the forthcoming Harry Potter television series, and some fans are not happy about it.The author of the best-selling fantasy series has received criticism in recent years for being outspoken in her controversial views about the transgender community.As a result, many Harry Potter fans have claimed that they won’t be supporting her future projects, including the upcoming television adaptation of the series, with many tweeting about boycotting the author altogether.Yesterday (June 26) it was announced that the series would have Succession duo Francesca Gardiner as its writer and showrunner, and Mark Mylod as director on multiple episodes.Rowling wrote on X about the announcement: “I’m truly thrilled to announce our director and writer, both of whom I interviewed as part of the production team.”She continued: “Both have a genuine passion for #HarryPotter, and having read Francesca’s pilot script and heard Mark’s vision, I’m certain the TV show will more than live up to expectations.”Users have taken to the comments to show their disapproval of Rowling’s involvement in the series.

“Game of Thrones,” alum, who will executive produce and direct several episodes). Author J.K.

Harry Potter books will see Succession duo Mark Mylod and Francesca Gardiner at the helm as director and writer.News of the upcoming TV version of J.K. Rowling’s book series was first confirmed by HBO Max last April, with each of the seven books reportedly getting its own season.Although details of the cast are still unconfirmed, HBO recently named Gardiner, whose credits include Killing Eve, His Dark Materials and Succession, as showrunner and executive producer.Mylod, who also worked on Succession as well as Game of Thrones and The Last of Us, will act as executive producer and director of multiple episodes in the series.The series, which is currently in development, is said to be a “faithful” adaptation of Rowling’s books, complete with a new cast.I'm truly thrilled to announce our director and writer, both of whom I interviewed as part of the production team.

UPDATED with latest: Warner Bros. Discovery‘s Harry Potter television series has found its showrunner and director.

It’s been a little more than two years since we learned that Warner Bros. would be rebooting the ‘Harry Potter’ franchise as a TV series.

There’s news about the upcoming HBO Harry Potter series…and fans of Succession might love some of these choices!

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large AMC Networks has staked its claim for more “Anne Rice’s Interview With the Vampire.” The series has been renewed for Season 3 on AMC and streaming outlet AMC+, the outlets announced Wednesday. News comes just days before the show’s Season 2 finale (which airs June 30).

The Green Lantern series has officially been given a series order!

Don’t expect many big-budget original scripted series heading to Max.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large To paraphrase a long-running network slogan, “It’s Not Max. It’s HBO.” HBO and Max content CEO Casey Bloys is changing the delineation between what an “HBO show” and a “Max show” is, moving most of Max’s upcoming big-budget, tentpole Warner Bros. IP projects to under the HBO umbrella.

Matthew Lewis is not interested in reprising his Harry Potter role of Neville Longbottom.

Matthew Lewis revealed if he was interested in returning to Hogwarts.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Todd Harthan has been tapped as the new showrunner and executive producer of ABC’s “High Potential,” starring Kaitlin Olson. Harthan was previously executive producer/showrunner of Fox’s “The Resident,” which ran for six seasons and recently was a hit off-net for Netflix. Harthan replaces previous showrunner Rob Thomas, who departed the project earlier this month.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Writer/directors Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, who were behind the recent critically acclaimed FX limited series “A Murder At the End of the World,” have struck a deal with indie production shingle Sister to develop, write and produce original film and television projects. The deal, described as a “multi-year creative partnership,” reunites Marling and Batmanglij with Cindy Holland, the global CEO of Sister.

Listen up, film fans. If you want to put your movie trivia and music knowledge to the test, now's your chance.The Chase star Darragh Ennis is challenging you to identify the popular film soundtracks. It's trickier than it may seem – as music can get forgotten or blend into the background when you're distracted by all the action taking place on screen.