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After a long wait, HBO's Harry Potter is getting closer. The series will debut on Christmas, and more details are coming to light.
After cinematographer Adriano Goldman gave a lengthy interview sharing several new details about the series, the Harry Potter show just received a new update. Per the official HBO Max page for the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone received a TV-14 rating.
Harry Potter's Official Rating Sounds Promising
The new rating is surprising in terms of the Harry Potter franchise, considering that TV-MA accounts for more mature content and violence. However, it's not surprising for HBO, who has a long history of taking risks that regular broadcast shows couldn't.
The first movie, 2001's Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, had a PG rating, as well as its two sequels, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. It received a PG-13 rating for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which continued until 2009's Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which returned to a PG rating. The final two movies were PG-13-rated, too.
TV-14 is similar to PG-13 for movies, although it allows for more mature content, depending on each network. However, while PG-13 generally features explicit violence or restricted language, TV-14 offers more creative freedom, which all depends on nuance.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone isn't overly violent, but the series will likely deal with the abuse Harry went through while living with the Dursleys, including bullying and more mature. This also allows Quidditch to be more violent, as well as the final confrontation with Voldemort.
The HBO official page teases, "Exploring every corner of the wizarding world, the HBO Original series will bring the incredible adventures of Harry Potter to new and existing audiences."
Harry Potter Season 1 Isn't Done Yet
Although there are only five months to go before Harry Potter officially returns, the show isn't yet finished. Cinematographer Adriano Goldman confirmed in the recent interview that they haven't even finished editing Episode 1.
Goldman also addressed the criticism over color grading. The first two Harry Potter movies, helmed by Home Alone's Chris Columbus, were famously extremely colorful and vibrant. The first two films officially introduce a young Harry (and viewers) to the wizarding world and the magical world of Hogwarts. However, Goldman noted Columbus' version was "cartoony," and that it was "all very exaggerated in colors, performance, the use of wide angles."
He teased that the new version "would ideally be a more realistic, more grounded Potter, not only from the point of view of the style, right, the color palette and the choice of locations, which are also not many, but there are some, and rhythm, you know, camera movement, all that."
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone premieres on HBO Max on Dec. 25.
