Gary Oldman: HBO Harry Potter Series Beats Movies — SkimNews
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- Gary Oldman, who played Sirius Black in four Harry Potter films, told EW the HBO series will be 'more satisfying' than the Warner Bros. movies because the films had to cut 'a lot of character detail' to keep runtime to about three hours.
- Oldman said HBO's adaptation will follow Rowling's books 'pretty much word-for-word,' while also expressing pride and gratitude for being part of the original film franchise and praising director Chris Columbus for setting up the cast and world.
- Oldman previously told IndieWire that Sirius Black didn't get enough screen time in the films — Black had only cameos in 'Goblet of Fire' and 'Deathly Hallows Part 2' and a brief appearance in 'Order of the Phoenix' before being killed off.
- HBO's 'Harry Potter' has wrapped Season 1 and will premiere Dec. 25 on HBO and HBO Max, with Season 2 (based on the second book) currently in pre-production at Leavesden Studios outside London.
- The HBO series cast includes Dominic McLaughlin as Harry, Arabella Stanton as Hermione, Alastout as Ron, John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Snape, Nick Frost as Hagrid, Rory Wilmot as Neville, and Lox Pratt as Draco; HBO has not announced a Sirius Black casting.
- Oldman will next appear in Season 6 of Apple TV's 'Slow Horses,' premiering Sept. 16, and once described his own Sirius Black performance as 'mediocre' before clarifying he meant it as artist self-criticism rather than a slight to fans.
Why it matters: HBO lands a four-film franchise veteran's endorsement of its adaptation's fidelity to Rowling's source material, and Oldman's prior complaints about Sirius Black being shortchanged on screen implicitly frame the longer TV format as a corrective. With Season 1 locked for a Dec. 25 premiere but the Sirius Black casting still unannounced, the role remains HBO's most conspicuous open question.
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