Fans will be spellbound.
After months of anticipation, HBO Max has finally dropped the first official photo from the set of the highly anticipated “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts” special.
“Like they never left,” the streaming platform wrote alongside the nostalgic Twitter pic, which depicts stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson conversing in the iconic Gryffindor common room.
The photo marks the first time three fantasy stars have been photographed together since the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two” premiere in 2011.
The nostalgic retrospective commemorates the beloved film franchise’s 20th anniversary anniversary, which began with the immortal “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in 2001.
HBO have yet to announce the special’s official length. However, “Return To Hogwarts” will provide a behind-the-scenes look at making of the eight films through “in-depth interviews” and “cast conversations,” Variety reported. A teaser for the retrospective aired Sunday night on TBS and Cartoon Network, featuring cameos from Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley).
Along with the aforementioned stars, the reunion will feature cast and crew from previous films, including “Sorcerer’s Stone” director Chris Columbus, and actors Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, James Phelps, Oliver Phelps and more.
Absent from the “Return To Hogwarts” roster will be the late great Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), who passed away in 2016 at 69 after a short battle with Pancreatic cancer.
Meanwhile, “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling also won’t be giving interviews in the special, but will appear in archival footage. However, it’s unclear if this decision was based on the viral controversy that was spawned last summer, when the fantasy scribe fired off a series of Tweets that were deemed “transphobic” by some Harry Potter fans and actors.
“There’s magic in the air here with this incredible cast, as they all return home to the original sets of Hogwarts, where they began 20 years ago,” Casey Patterson, “RTH’s” executive producer at Warner Bros., said in November.
The nostalgic special premieres on HBO Max on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2022.
