HBO’s 25-Year-Old Fantasy Series Is Officially Taking Over the World

Some franchises never really go away. They just wait for the right moment to come roaring back. That seems to be exactly what is happening with the original Harry Potter movies right now, as fans old and new head back to Hogwarts in a big way. With HBO’s new TV adaptation starting to ramp up its campaign, the original film saga is getting a huge streaming boost all over again.

The clearest sign of that comeback is on HBO Max’s global movie chart. On March 30, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was sitting at #1 worldwide on the service, and by March 31, it was still holding strong at #2 globally, only slipping behind Anaconda. That is a massive result for a film that first hit theaters in 2001, and it shows just how strong the appetite remains for the Wizarding World on streaming.

The timing is not hard to figure out. Collider recently reported that the original movies were getting a fresh surge after HBO released the first trailer for its new Harry Potter series, which is set to re-adapt the books for television. When a franchise this big starts making noise again, audiences tend to go back to the version they already love, and in this case that means revisiting the eight-film run that defined a generation of fantasy fandom.

Who Stars in ‘Harry Potter’?

The full main cast across the saga includes Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, Emma Watson as Hermione Granger, Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley, Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom, Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood, Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy, Alan Rickman as Severus Snape, Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall, Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid, Richard Harris and later Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore, Ralph Fiennes as Lord Voldemort, Gary Oldman as Sirius Black, Helena Bonham Carter as Bellatrix Lestrange, Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy, Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge, James Phelps as Fred Weasley, Oliver Phelps as George Weasley, Mark Williams as Arthur Weasley, and Julie Walters as Molly Weasley.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is streaming now on HBO Max. The upcoming television adaptation will premiere in December 2026.

Release Date

November 16, 2001

Runtime

152 minutes

Director

Chris Columbus

Writers

Steve Kloves

Producers

David Heyman, Duncan Henderson, Mark Radcliffe