HARRY POTTER AND THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE Reveals New Character Posters and First Taste of Hans Zimmer's Score
HBO is giving Harry Potter fans another look at its upcoming Wizarding World series, and this time we've got some cool new character posters and what appears to be our first taste of Hans Zimmer's musical score.
HBO has released three posters for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, featuring Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.
Each poster puts the young Hogwarts students front and center, with their wands. It's a nice opportunity to check out the redesigned magical accessories, which will help give this new adaptation of J.K. Rowling's books its own visual identity.
HBO has also released animated versions of the posters, and those come with an interesting little bonus. They appear to feature our first sample of the music composed by Zimmer and Bleeding Fingers Music.
That's something worth paying attention to, especially considering how closely the original Harry Potter films are associated with John Williams' iconic music. Zimmer has some enormous musical shoes to fill, and it'll be interesting to hear how he approaches Hogwarts and the Wizarding World.
While we have on three posters to share, there are plenty of familiar faces still waiting for their moment in the spotlight. Additional posters featuring the Hogwarts professors and other students seems like a pretty safe bet.
One character HBO continues to keep secret is Lord Voldemort. The actor playing the Dark Lord still hasn't been revealed, although we could at least hear his voice during Harry's confrontation with Professor Quirrell, who is possessed by Voldemort, toward the end of the first book.
Meanwhile, Paapa Essiedu, who plays Severus Snape in the series, recently spoke with TIME about the conversations surrounding his casting. The actor acknowledged that fans have strong opinions about the beloved characters and their portrayals.
"For me, I first came to this story through the books. So people have got a lot of feelings about this," he acknowledged. "Obviously, everyone's got the right to their own opinions about whatever."
Essiedu explained that his priority is bringing the complicated Hogwarts professor to life in a way that honors the character's personality and history.
"I concentrate on the job at hand, which is to give as much humanity, as much depth, dimensions, layers, complexity to a character that has a lot of that," the actor continued. "That is my job, and it's a privilege, and it's an honor to do it, and I look forward to being able to do it for a long time now."
With Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone set to premiere next month, HBO still has a few surprises it could share before audiences return to Hogwarts.
I'm particularly curious to hear more of Zimmer's score. The music was such a huge part of what made the original films memorable, and I'm interested to see what he brings to this new version.
