Harry Potter Is Returning To Streaming
The Harry Potter movies are returning to streaming and now you will be able to catch up with the series in its entirety in one place
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Harry Potter had a bit of a weird placement for anyone looking to stream it. Despite being owned by Warner Bros., it was on NBC’s Peacock service for quite some time. Now the movies are returning home at HBO Max by September 1.
Outside of Harry Potter, HBO is adding a ton of movies onto its platform throughout September. By the first day of the month, you will get all eight of the fantasy blockbusters, all three of the original Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) Evil Dead movies, The Goonies, Cloverfield, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Taken 2, The Benchwarmers, and more. Later in the month, you will get films like Mad Max: Fury Road, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, and Promising Young Woman.
Warner Bros. adapted all of the books from author J.K. Rowling. The Harry Potter blockbusters ran from 2001 to 2011. Between all eight movies, over $6.3 billion was grossed worldwide. Including the not as acclaimed spin-offs, Fantastic Beasts, it gets bumped to over $8 billion and an extra billion to $9 billion from a marathon released in 2016.
Daniel Radcliffe (Guns Akimbo) starred as the titular character. Supporting him in the Harry Potter franchise was Rupert Grint (Servant), Emma Watson (Little Women), Michael Gambon (Paddington 2), and Ralph Fiennes (Schindler’s List). Most of which had different directors with Chris Columbus (Pixels) helming the first two entries, Alfonso Cuaron (Roma) took over for the third, Mike Newell (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time) helming the fourth, and David Yates wrapping up the series and continuing it with the spin-offs and the upcoming sequels for those movies.
The popularity of Harry Potter has dwindled in some capacity over the years. Fans have been put in an awkward situation with the author coming under fire for transphobic comments and other controversies like her 2020 novel Troubled Blood, the fifth installment in the Cormoran Strike series. It has even put the upcoming video game, Hogwarts Legacy, in hot water as people are unsure if they want to support it, despite her not being attached in a major capacity.
Besides comments from J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter has had issues with its Fantastic Beasts spin-off franchise as well. The first entry, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, was well received and made money with its $814 million box office. Its sequel, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindlewald, was a commercial success, but it did not make as much, and it was critically panned due to its weaker story. Now it has more drama with the firing of Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean) and the replacement of his character with Mads Mikkelson (Another Round).
In more positive news, if you plan on binging the Harry Potter movies this September, you should put something else on your to-do list. All eight movies are getting a 4K Collector’s Edition that is meant to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first film. It includes 17-discs and a 32-page behind-the-scenes booklet as it is packaged as the Hogwarts Express. The monstrous bundle will cost $139.99.
