HBO is rebuilding Harry Potter from the ground up with a new cast and a faithful, long-form take on the books. That alone is catnip for fans, but it also opens the door to fix one of the films biggest misses: Percy Weasley getting treated like set dressing.
What HBO is doing differently
The plan, as reported by Deadline, is simple and smart: one season per book. No more sprinting through subplots just to make a theatrical runtime. That format gives the series time to actually live with character arcs the movies barely nodded at. And yes, that includes the Weasley brother who cared more about the Ministry than Sunday dinner.
Why Percy needs a do-over
Percy is the classic ambitious middle child: rules-first, status-obsessed, desperate to climb the Ministry ladder even if it puts him at odds with his own family. That choice fractures the Weasleys, and his turn back toward them later is one of the more grounded pieces of the whole saga. Ambition. Family conflict. Forgiveness. It is not flashy magic, but it is deeply human.
Fans have been saying this for years (go peek at any number of Reddit threads): Percy had a full, relevant arc in the books and the films basically looked the other way.
How the movies sidelined him
On screen, Percy is mostly a blur in the background: a prefect here, a Ministry functionary there, then a quick appearance at the Battle of Hogwarts. The big beats from the books barely register in the films. If you did not read the source material, you would have little sense of his rise at the Ministry, the ugly fallout with the Weasleys, or the emotional weight of his return to the family during the Battle of Hogwarts right as tragedy strikes Fred. His political ambitions and eventual redemption are basically footnotes, when they could have added real texture to the Weasley story.
What the series can actually fix
Give Percys storyline the room to breathe and it becomes a slow-burn gut punch: the kid who put rules over relationships, who pays for it, and who earns his way back. With seven seasons to play with, HBO can track that evolution instead of cutting around it. If the show follows through on the long-form promise, Percy could go from background extra to one of the emotional standouts of the whole thing.
Where the movies are streaming (and the numbers)
Slightly funny rights note: all the Harry Potter films are currently streaming on Peacock, while the new series is being made at HBO. Welcome to modern licensing.
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone - Director: Chris Columbus - IMDb: 7.7 - Box office: $962 million
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Director: Chris Columbus - IMDb: 7.4 - Box office: $876 million
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Director: Alfonso Cuaron - IMDb: 7.9 - Box office: $784 million
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - Director: Mike Newell - IMDb: 7.7 - Box office: $885 million
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Director: David Yates - IMDb: 7.5 - Box office: $937 million
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Director: David Yates - IMDb: 7.6 - Box office: $926 million
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1 - Director: David Yates - IMDb: 7.7 - Box office: $943 million
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 - Director: David Yates - IMDb: 8.1 - Box office: $1.3 billion
When to expect the reboot
The HBO series is targeting a 2027 premiere. If it sticks the landing, Percy Weasley might finally get the screen time his arc deserves.