In 2001, Warner Bros. Pictures
premiered in cinemas the first chapter of a modern magical fantasy epic. “Harry
Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” based on the book by J.K. Rowling, became a
blockbuster success, with an initial-run box office take nearing a billion
dollars while catapulting its primary cast of child actors to young stardom.
Fans followed Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as Harry, Ron and
Hermione through eight movies’ worth of Wizarding World adventures lasting a
decade. And now, a decade after the end of the “Harry Potter” films, the cast
and crew reunite in an HBO Max special, the full trailer of which released this
week.
Variety tells us that HBO Max put up a trailer for “Harry Potter 20th
Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” on their official social media pages this past
Tuesday, December 21. This is a heavily-anticipated reunion special that brings
back many of the cast and creative forces behind the generation-defining “Harry
Potter” film franchise. The teaser released earlier only whetted appetites for fans
to once again see the now-adult Golden Trio of Daniel Radcliffe and friends as
they reminisce about time making the films and what the franchise meant to their
lives.
The trailer footage is an absolute
nostalgia bomb, being filmed on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London which
preserves the sets used for the “Potter” movies. Seeing Radcliffe stroll down
Diagon Alley, and Emma Watson at Platform 9¾ and the Hogwarts Great Hall where she
embraces Rupert Grint, one can agree with Watson’s sentiment that both “no time
has passed” and “loads of time has passed.” Radcliffe adds that he once felt
that the most important part of their lives ended when they completed their
last film, “Deathly Hallows Part 2.” He shares the joy of his cast-mates in
realizing that it has not.
Aside from Harry, Ron and
Hermione, other “Harry Potter” films stars joining the reunion include baddies
Ralph Fiennes and Helena Bonham-Carter, Jason Isaacs, Tom Felton, Gary Oldman
and more. Even the movie directors Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell
and David Yates will get to say their pieces here. Emma also talks of how the
movies and overall franchise made life richer when things got dark and times
got hard, reinforced by Grint asserting that their time in the Wizarding World
is a bond they will always have, as family.
If there is one dim light in “Return
to Hogwarts,” it would be the complete absence of original book author J.K.
Rowling from the proceedings. Despite still being active in developing the
Wizarding World through film, Rowling’s recent personal opinions have caused a
split in her fan-base between those appalled at her viewpoints and those accusing
the former of “cancelling” her. Nevertheless, HBO Max subscribers can expect to
watch “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” when its
streams come New Year’s Day, in 2022.
Image from Icon vs. Icon
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