Warner Bros and HBO Max are planning to ring in the New Year with a return to the Wizarding World. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is a retrospective special marking the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone‘s release and will feature many familiar faces.
Now we have our first look at the retrospective courtesy of a new teaser trailer, which gives us some peeks at the franchise stars as they receive a letter inviting them to remember their time working in Harry Potter.
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint will all be making an appearance, but the new trailer also confirms that we’ll see 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 contributing to the nostalgia.
Notable by her absence is creator Harry Potter J.K. Rowling. Over the last two years, the formerly beloved author has tanked her reputation and alienated large portions of the Harry Potter fanbase with a series of transphobic statements. The backlash to this saw many of the stars turning up for this special publically distancing themselves from her.
The Harry Potter franchise is in a difficult place right now. Rowling has done serious damage to it with her half-baked ramblings, the last major release Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was a box office flop, and production of Fantastic Beasts 3 hasn’t been smooth.
Warner Bros. surely is hoping that this golden goose is still laying eggs, though, and Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts will be a great way to gauge continuing interest in the franchise. We’ll know more about the franchise’s current fan appeal once it’s out Jan. 1.
