{"id":498634,"date":"2026-03-27T17:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/498634\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T17:25:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T17:25:11","slug":"international-insider-the-potterverse-reawakens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/498634\/","title":{"rendered":"International Insider: The Potterverse Reawakens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tScoopio! Harry Potter<\/a> waved his magic wand on Wednesday and became the talk of the industry, while Deadline headed to France for the influential Series Mania Forum. Jesse Whittock here taking you through\u00a0a hugely significant week for international film and TV. Read on and sign up here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tPotterverse Reawakens<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tNick Frost as Hagrid<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHBO<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re a TV star, Harry: So now we know when the Harry Potter TV watchalong parties will begin \u2013 Christmas 2026. As HBO Max<\/a> geared up to finally launch in the UK and Ireland (more below), first a teaser image<\/a> and then a trailer<\/a> dropped for the TV series version of the JK Rowling books. Not only that, but we also got a title, and it was Harry Potter: The TV Series: The New Era. I am JOKING. Like the first film that made Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint household names, it will be called Harry Potter and the Philosopher\u2019s Stone. The trailer vibe was pretty familiar too \u2013 Nick Frost as Hagrid, for example, looks like Nick Frost as Robbie Coltrane playing Hagrid. It will take a while for people to get used to new versions of such beloved movie characters. Over at Series Mania, HBO originals chief Sarah Aubrey was effusive in her admiration for the production, telling me her \u201cjaw was on the floor\u201d<\/a> when she visited the set at Leavesden. She later took to the Series Mania stage and said the series represents \u201ca financial investment that normally you wouldn\u2019t make with a television show.\u201d It\u2019s going to be a big deal, in every sense. Back across the English channel, HBO and Warner Bros. Discovery top brass Casey Bloys and J.B. Perrette were on hand to unveil HBO Max to the UK and Ireland. Perrette told Deadline<\/a> this launch has been \u201cyears, if not decades, in the making.\u201d Ironic it comes after Paramount CEO David Ellison said the post WBD merger plan was to bring streaming together with Paramount+. I quizzed both Aubrey and Bloys about the future and Aubrey responded that \u201cDavid Ellison has articulated a real commitment to supporting specifically HBO.\u201d Bloys, who had a much talked-about lunch with Ted Sarandos recently, praised Paramount for having \u201ca lot of properties that would do well\u201d on HBO Max.<\/p>\n

\n\tEurope Seeks Its Voice At Series Mania<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tChannelling Churchill: The narrative in European scripted has been pretty downbeat over the past few years \u2013 a lack of commissioning money, a fear of really big ideas, the exit of American co-producers and competition from streamers. Series Mania, the annual festival and industry forum, sought to be a conduit for change. At the center of proceedings at the influential Series Mania Forum was the promise of a landmark co-production treaty signing. The aim is to bring TV co-production more in line with film rules, streamlining admin, clarifying producer obligations and, crucially, giving producers a bigger portion of the spoils. Unveiling the treaty was\u00a0Council of Europe\u00a0Secretary General\u00a0Alain Berset, who defied the clich\u00e9s about Euro bureaucrats by delivering an impassioned speech<\/a> that referred to Winston Churchill of all people. I\u2019ve been a TV industry journalist for 17 years now and Mr Berset has finally found the formula to making legalese around international co-production interesting. Bravo, sir, you may be a genius. Elsewhere at Series Mania, Stewart took to the stage with Disney EMEA content supremo Angela Jain and HBO Max\u2019s Aubrey unveiled new shows from Germany, Poland and Spain, as U.S. studios made their latest pitch to the European community \u2013 read Max\u2019s analysis here<\/a>. Russell T. Davies was also in town to talk about his \u201cangriest and darkest show yet.\u201d<\/a> All our Series Mania coverage is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u2018SNL UK\u2019 Defies Expectations<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\tLaughs and laurels: Fair to say the appetite for Saturday Night Live UK was minimal at best this time last week. The British version of the venerable American comedy was considered by many industry folk and viewers as an expensive and pointless exercise that would not work. Can\u2019t deny it, my expectations for the Sky show were low. It was, then, a very pleasant surprise that SNL UK was pretty damned decent. Whisper it, but Sky could even have a sizeable hit on its hands, with a little more TLC. The writing was mostly sharp, Jack Shep delivered a crucial viral moment with his Princess Diana impression and the guest host, SNL royalty Tina Fey, was the anchor pulling it together<\/a>. It was by no means perfect, and will still need to justify its massive per-ep costs, but as launches go, Comcast-owned Sky will have been delighted. Donald Trump even shared the opening sketch<\/a> sending up British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, though it\u2019s possible the U.S. President missed that most of the joke was actually on him. Jamie Dornan is up next and we\u2019ll have updates as the episode roles out. All SNL UK coverage is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Essentials<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Judy<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tL to R: Judy Davis, Sheridan Smith, Stephen Peacocke<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNick James<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f Hot One: BAFTA nominee Sheridan Smith, Stephen Peacocke and Judy Davis are starring in\u00a0ITV and Stan mystery thriller Two Birds<\/a>, which is from the producer behind\u00a0Mr Bates vs the Post Office.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83c\udf36\ufe0f Another One: The Housemaid\u00a0producer\u00a0Hidden Pictures and Spain\u2019s AF Films\u00a0are making<\/a> an action-driven feature film\u00a0Chopper.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83d\udd25 A third One: Richard Gere\u2019s legal thriller hit\u00a0Primal Fear, which saw a fresh-faced Edward Norton nab an Oscar nomination in his screen debut, is getting a first stage adaptation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83d\udde3\ufe0f The Big Interview: A Prophet star Tahar Rahim told Diana Lodderhose about his career<\/a> and recent collab with writer Matt Charman on Sky thriller Prisoner.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u26d3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83d\udca5 Disruptor: Author Jo Nesb\u00f8, the man behind Netflix\u2019s new Harry Hole detective series, told us<\/a> about his experience as a crime drama showrunner.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83c\udf10 We are the world: Fisher Stevens\u2019 Amazon rainforest doc\u00a0We Are Guardians\u00a0will launch on several platforms on April 22<\/a>, which, appropriately, is Earth Day.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83d\udcb0 Hey, big spender: Spain\u2019s\u00a0Movistar\u00a0Plus+ is the latest to buy Jack Thorne\u2019s buzzy drama\u00a0Lord of the Flies, as part of a six-title deal<\/a> with\u00a0Sony Pictures Television.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83c\udfd5\ufe0f Summer at Seriencamp: Germany\u2019s biggest TV event revealed its 2026 plan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83c\udfea New shop: Lucaville Global, the nascent outfit run by former Anonymous Content international boss\u00a0David Davoli, has launched<\/a> a JV with Italian indie\u00a0Titanus\u00a0Production and is developing four projects.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u23eb Boss level: Ex-Google EMEA chief Matt Brittin is to become the next Director General<\/a> at the BBC, which this week also sounded the alarm<\/a> on significant cuts to come.<\/p>\n

\n\t\ud83d\udcee Bids are in: The Edinburgh TV Festival will either remain in the Scottish capital or move to Greater Manchester or Newcastle after the three submitted bids<\/a> to host the event.<\/p>\n

\n\tInternational Insider<\/a> was written by Jesse Whittock and edited by Max Goldbart. We will be pausing next week for a national holiday in the UK before returning with a revamped look on April 10, 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Scoopio! Harry Potter waved his magic wand on Wednesday and became the talk of the industry, while Deadline…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":498635,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[96,1635,11521,175384,2839,168973,170739,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-498634","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-harry-potter","10":"tag-hbo-max","11":"tag-international-insider","12":"tag-movies","13":"tag-series-mania","14":"tag-snl-uk","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=498634"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/498634\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/498635"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=498634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=498634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=498634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}