On HBO Max, first images of the “Harry Potter” series in a behind-the-scenes documentary

Fans of JK Rowling’s saga are waiting for it as the event of the year. The “Harry Potter” series will go online at Christmas 2026 on HBO Max. To wait until then, a documentary was put online this Sunday, April 5 in the evening, going behind the scenes of the filming of this blockbuster, which will be available in seven seasons, one per volume.

What do we find in this film of barely 26 minutes, presented as a making of? For fans of the young wizard’s adventures, this is the opportunity to discover the graphic universe, the settings, the costumes, the actors of this new image. Narrated by comedian and actor Nick Frost, who plays the endearing Hagrid in the series. He will have the difficult task of succeeding Robbie Coltrane, who died in 2022, who brilliantly played the role in the films of the saga.

“Let every ten-year-old in the UK be able to audition”

The documentary opens on the construction site, with hundreds of workers busy creating the sets. In the image, we feel that we are going to be amazed. Then the two casting directors talk about how they selected the three young main actors who play Harry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. “We stopped counting at 40,000 candidates but we looked at everything,” explain Emily Brockmann and Lucy Bevan.

“We had to find a child who seems ordinary but who, in reality, is extraordinary. We made sure that every ten-year-old in the UK could audition,” they continue. We thus see the first attempts of Dominic McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout who won the roles and now have the difficult task of replacing Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, the incarnations of the characters in the cinema.

Then we meet the production designer, who explains how she worked by showing the models which were used to develop the sets. We see images of Privet Drive, the street on which Harry lives with his muggle uncle and aunt, the Dursleys. “It had to be anchored in reality,” notes the production designer, “so that the world of wizards, in opposition, appears even more fascinating and attractive.”

Costume designers, prop designers, special effects managers still show behind the scenes of their work. Special mention for the fascinating owl robot, with very realistic movements, each feather of which was implanted manually by the teams. Janet McTeer, who plays Minerva McGonagall, and Paapa Essiedu, in the role of Severus Snape, also confide their enthusiasm to be part of this project.

For really keen muggles

The documentary gives an overall idea of ​​what the series will look like. But we remain unsatisfied, as everyone’s speeches are full of broad generalities and remain very superficial. All accompanied by almost uninterrupted music, which ends up annoying. Quickly, we feel that the documentary serves above all self-promotion.

From the first minutes, John Lithgow, who will play Albus Dumbledore, seems to want to justify the existence of the series, the relevance of which is sometimes questioned by some fans. “It’s about reimagining the work of Harry Potter, letting it breathe, telling a story in eight episodes rather than in a single two-hour film, diving into parallel worlds,” describes the actor who notably played Winston Churchill in The Crown. The story is there, but we can play all these things that we know exist but that we don’t see.”

Nothing essential, in short. If you don’t have half an hour to kill, or are a muggle fanatic about the universe, move on until December.