John Lithgow Gives Disappointing Update About Dumbledore’s Place in HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ Reboot

While Professor Albus Dumbledore is one of the most powerful characters in the wizarding world, he won’t be dominating the screen in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter reboot, as John Lithgow just clued audiences in on how much they can expect to see Dumbledore in the new show. The character was played by Richard Harris and Michael Gambon in the original Harry Potter movies, with Jude Law playing a younger version of Dumbledore in the Fantastic Beasts films. The new series is still in development, and the search for the new Harry Potter is ongoing. Although a shooting schedule hasn’t yet been decided, Lithgow knows how present Dumbledore will be in the new show, and it’s less than you might think.

During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, John Lithgow revealed that Dumbledore won’t be stealing the show in HBO’s Harry Potter reboot series. “Dumbledore is kind of the nuclear weapon,” the actor said. As much as fans love Dumbledore as a character, especially after the original movies, we’ve all been hit with the Mandela Effect into thinking he was on-screen a lot more than he actually was. “He only goes on [screen] very, very occasionally. I don’t think it’s gonna be that hard a job, and, we’ll just go back and forth.”

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For John Lithgow, that’s a dream come true. The actor previously starred in Netflix’s The Crown, which had a far more demanding shooting schedule. “I was over in England for eight months for The Crown and barely came back [to the U.S.]” he continued. But, with less screen time in Harry Potter, it will free the actor up to travel back a lot more. “I imagine that I can come back much more.”

HBO’s ‘Harry Potter’ Will Adapt One Book Per Season

Warner Bros. Pictures 

In the eyes of fans, HBO’s Harry Potter reboot is a double-edged Sword of Gryffindor. Warner Bros.’ original movies, starring Daniel Radcliffe as the titular wizard, are beloved across the world, enjoying annual re-watches from fans, especially around the holidays. But, book readers know that the movies left out a lot of material from J.K. Rowling’s novels.

The biggest selling point for the new series is the extended runtimes, which should allow HBO to adapt the entirety of Rowling’s novels. During the podcast, Lithgow confirmed what was previously said about Harry Potter’s structure regarding the adaptation of the books. “The overall concept of this entire reboot of Harry Potter is an entire season is devoted to a single novel,” he said.

As beloved as the original films are, in hindsight, there are many supporting characters who deserved to have their stories and character development fleshed out more. Bonnie Wright, who played Ginny Weasley in the original movies, is hopeful that her character will get a better story arc in HBO’s series. When asked what she wants to see from Ginny in the reboot, the actress said:

“So many things. More of the development of the relationship between Ginny and Harry. There’s nuanced moments of where they begin to fall in love. I think more of that arc of her character becoming this real loyal sidekick to Harry and how she really understands and knows his story and who he is and is the best partner for him. So I just hope we see that evolution of that character — and so many characters.”

Source: SmartLess

Harry Potter

Showrunner

Francisca Gardiner

Directors

Mark Mylod

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