The much-anticipated trailer for ‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts’ has finally been dropped by HBO Max on Monday.
It is an upcoming special that will reunite the actors and filmmakers associated with the wizarding franchise from the eight-movie series, which will stream on January 1. ‘Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone’, which kicked off the films, was released in November 2001, and the special will commemorate the franchise’s 20th anniversary.
‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts’, which will reunite actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson was taped at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London.
It will also feature talent from the movies, including Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps, Mark Williams, Bonnie Wright, Alfred Enoch, Matthew Lewis and Evanna Lynch. Filmmakers David Heyman, Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cuaron, Mike Newell and David Yates.
The trailer features the cast reminiscing about the movies, as well as festivities in the Great Hall. Watson said, “It feels like no time has passed and loads of time has passed.” Radcliffe said that something that had scared him was “the implication that the most meaningful thing in our life was done,” and that seeing everyone is “joyous” because he realizes “it wasn’t though.”
Bonham Carter said a highlight for her was during ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ when she “had to pretend to be Hermione pretending to be Belletrix” as they break into Gringotts. In conversation with Radcliffe, she said, “I’ve still got the teeth,” and puts them in her mouth as he laughs.
Fiennes said his sister, who had ‘Harry Potter’-aged children during the time when he was weighing whether to play Voldemort told him, “You’ve got to do it!”
“When things get really dark, and times are really hard, there’s something about Harry Potter that makes life richer,” Watson said, as the key trio of friends talks in the Gryffindor common room. “It’s a strong bond that we’ll always have,” Grint agreed as they embrace.
J.K. Rowling, the author of the beloved book series, was not interviewed for ‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts’, and will be shown in only archival footage about the movies. Because of her anti-trans comments, Rowling has become a figure of instant, and seemingly permanent, controversy in the passionate and vast ‘Harry Potter’ fandom.
Even recently, Rowling jumped into the fray again, tweeting about proposed reforms to Scottish law that would allow people to identify more easily as their true gender. Her anti-trans views have been condemned by the core cast of the ‘Harry Potter’ movies.
As per Variety, ‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts’ is produced by Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, in association with Warner Horizon at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour London. It’s executive produced by Casey Patterson of Casey Patterson and Pulse Films. (ANI)
