The Harry Potter trailer for the Max streaming service uses the original film series’ logo and John Williams’ iconic theme. However, a Warner Bros. Discovery executive said fans shouldn’t read too much into their use of the promo.
Warner Bros. Discovery has officially confirmed that the Harry Potter reboot has moved forward in a presentation largely to promote its upcoming Max streaming service. The Harry Potter TV series was touted as a faithful adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s book has a whole new cast. However, the short film trailer used the logo and soundtrack from the movie, sparking criticism from some and confusion from others.
In an interview with Variety, Pato Spagnoletto (Direct-to-Consumer Global Chief Marketing Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery) was asked if the inclusion of the Harry Potter movie music and logo in the trailer meant Max intended to keep those elements in the series “We’re excited to have that franchise back. It’s really entertained a lot of us over the last 20 years. It’s too early to be honest, and I don’t want to end up with that franchise in one way or another. way to mislead you,” Spagnoletto responded. “We’re only just beginning to explore how the content will look, be produced and filmed. Obviously, the point of marketing is to mirror the actual content.
In case it wasn’t clear, Spagnoletto went on to say that the use of Harry Potter musical cues and logos in the promo doesn’t mean that the material will be used for the TV series. “So what we’re showing on screen is an illustration of the history and its richness, not necessarily what we plan to market and how we plan to market new content,” Spagnoletto said. The music and the logo, because it’s so early in the process, the new material for the Harry Potter reboot hasn’t been produced yet, so Warner Bros. found turning to the only content TV series they had to promote.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s use of the Harry Potter movie music and logo is understandable given the lack of other material to hype the project. Of course, fans could be forgiven for being cynical about the Harry Potter reboot, despite relying on the movies for attention. On the other hand, it’s not unheard of for a reboot to preserve elements of the franchise’s past. Despite being rebooted with Daniel Craig in the role, the James Bond franchise uses the same theme. Additionally, several Superman projects have incorporated Williams’ signature themes despite not having any ties to Christopher Reeve’s films.
So, could Harry Potter be another franchise that uses the same iconic score to adapt different material? Fans will have to wait and see, but that doesn’t appear to be necessarily the plan.
The Harry Potter reboot will stream exclusively on Max.