Harry Potter TV series in 'early development stages' at HBO Max

The film adaptations of JK Rowling's infamous Harry Potter book franchise have raked in an enormous amount of golden galleons, so it's not entirely surprising that a TV series is now potentially getting the green light.

Given the timing limitations of films taking source material from novels, a television show could potentially delve much deeper into the world of Harry Potter.

A Harry Potter live-action TV series is reportedly in early development at HBO Max, with the streaming service having “early-stage exploratory meetings” with writers for potential ideas.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, HBO Max “have engaged in multiple conversations with potential writers exploring various ideas that would bring the beloved property to television. Sources say broad ideas have been discussed."

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has proven that Harry Potter fans will embrace different characters and time-periods, there’s no shortage of in-universe history to explore.

To most fans, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are the definitive Harry, Ron, and Hermione - recasting their parts is widely considered sacrilege.

Radcliffe himself seems to know that the process is an inevitability, telling IGN:

“It will be interesting to see how long those films stay… it feels like there’s a sacredness around them at the moment, but that’ll go, the shine will wear off at some point. It’ll be interesting if they reboot them and just do the films again or do a series; I’m fascinated to watch.”

The Harry Potter films banked more than £5.1 billion (€5.75 billion) at the global box office between 2001 and 2011 - earning Rowling an estimated £475 million.

Although the extent of Rowling’s involvement in the show has yet to be established, insiders say she “controls the franchise and has a say in everything involving the property.”

The book franchise also spawned the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child West End play, which Rowling did not write but had to give consent for.

Rowling has been the subject of much controversy over the last number of years after expressing transphobic viewpoints, leading many of the original cast to distance themselves from the writer.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, directed by Chris Columbus, was released in 2001 to widespread commercial acclaim and kept the original plot of Rowling's 1997 novel.