Harry Potter is one of the most beloved franchises of our time. Many of us feel like we watched the cast grow up as we followed the fantasy film series, and well… we kind of did. This year marked 20 years since the release of the original film and a decade since the franchise wrapped with The Deathly Hallows - Part 2. The cast will celebrate these milestones with an HBO Max reunion special called Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts, and we have our first look at the cast’s return.
The Return To Hogwarts special set to premiere exclusively on HBO Max on New Year’s Day will feature Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and many other key Harry Potter actors you know and love from the eight films. Check out this official poster of the memorable Hogwarts class:
Starting from the left in the poster is Oliver and James Phelps (a.k.a. Fred and George Weasley); Tom Felton, who famously played Draco Malfoy; and our favorite Ravenclaw Luna Lovegood, i.e. Evanna Lynch. In the middle of the photo is, of course, the core trio of Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint, who played Hermione, Harry and Ron, respectively. Off to the right are Alfred Enoch, Matthew Lewis and Bonnie Wright, who played Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley, respectively.
The first look at Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts has us emotional seeing the young actors from the franchise all grown up and together again. This cast all grew up together making these films and remain close following the decade-long experience. They won’t be the only actors we’ll see during the HBO Max special either.
Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) , Ian Hart (Professor Quirrell) , Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley) and director Chris Columbus will also make appearances during the special, along with “many more” yet to be revealed. However, author J.K. Rowling will reportedly not be part of the festivities.
The special follows the success of the Friends reunion HBO Max hosted early this year. Return To Hogwarts was filmed at the Warner Bros Studio Tour in London in late November, per an update by Tom Felton weeks ago. Now the special is just under three weeks away and we absolutely cannot wait to see this cast all together again and reminiscing on making these magical movies as adults.
Along with Return To Hogwarts hitting HBO Max on January 1, 2022, the streaming service is also the home to all eight Harry Potter films available to rewatch in the meantime. Following the special, the third Fantastic Beasts movie, The Secrets of Dumbledore, is set to hit theaters on April 8, 2022.
