Warner Bros. TV group boss Channing Dungey has said there is a “tremendous amount of ambition” for a Harry Potter TV series.
Responding to Variety‘s question about whether a TV project set in the wizarding world might be coming, following the success of the Harry Potter reunion and “Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses,” a competition show hosted by Helen Mirren, Dungey said “there’s lot of interest and a lot of passion for it” and that the company were speaking to a number of parties about it.
Pointing to the unscripted Harry Potter specials, Dungey added: “You see how the audience is so engaged and so ready.”
Dungey was speaking at U.K. TV conference Content London, where she also discussed other issues affecting the industry including decreasing budgets and sky-rocketing talent salaries.
“I think the other tricky part is – in terms of the cast – is expectation now what you’re paying talent in the various roles,” she said. “[That] has just continued to increase, which then affects your bottom line. And that makes it tricky. You know, I think there was a feeling for a while [that a project] needed to have a certain level of name in order for it to be successful.” Dungey said that was changing, as was the reliance on tried and tested IP.
She also called the past year’s industry backtracking on streaming subscribers as a measure of success “The great Netflix correction,” saying the measures that define success are changing.
More to come…
