Harry Potter Lands Early Season 2 Renewal at HBO, With Chamber of Secrets Set to Begin Filming This Fall

HBO is doubling down on its wizarding world bet. The network has officially greenlit a second season of its forthcoming Harry Potter series, well ahead of the show's Season 1 debut this Christmas, Variety reports.

The early renewal is consistent with HBO's ambitious long-term blueprint for the franchise: adapting each of J.K. Rowling's seven novels into its own season over the course of roughly a decade. Season 2, which will draw from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, is slated to begin filming this fall, according to Variety.

Alongside the renewal, HBO announced a key creative addition behind the scenes. Jon Brown, who wrote on Season 1, has been promoted to co-showrunner for Season 2. He joins Francesca Gardiner, who has been steering the series since its inception and previously worked with Brown on HBO's Succession.

"As we have laid out our plans for the overlapping production schedules to finish Season 1 by Christmas and to return to production for Season 2 this autumn, it has become clear that bringing on a co-showrunner is the key to maintaining our momentum," Gardiner said in a statement to Variety. She praised Brown as "a brilliant collaborator and a lovely person," adding, "We are lucky to have him."

Brown, for his part, expressed enthusiasm about continuing on the project. "I'm incredibly excited to be collaborating with Francesca as co-showrunner," he said. "It has been a joy to write on Philosopher's Stone and I'd like to thank Francesca and HBO for putting their faith in me to continue this remarkable journey. Seems you're never too old to get your invitation to Hogwarts."

Season 1 will carry the title Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, echoing the original U.K. title of Rowling's debut novel. Per Variety, the season opens on Harry's 11th birthday, when the young wizard, played by newcomer Dominic McLaughlin, receives his Hogwarts acceptance letter — an invitation that introduces him to a magical world and to the dangers of an enemy tied to his past.

The series boasts a deep executive producer bench. Gardiner serves as EP alongside director Mark Mylod, Rowling, Neil Blair and Ruth Kenley-Letts of Brontë Film and TV, and David Heyman of Heyday Films, who also produced the original Warner Bros. film franchise. Warner Bros. Television is the studio behind the show.

With Season 1 set to land under the tree this Christmas and cameras rolling on Chamber of Secrets just months later, HBO appears determined to keep the Hogwarts Express running on schedule for the long haul.