‘Harry Potter’ Max Series Taps Francesca Gardiner as Writer Finalist

The search for writers for Max’s new Harry Potter series is heating up, as another name enters the conversation: Francesca Gardiner. According to Deadline, she joins a list of names including Martha Hillier, Kathleen Jordan, Tom Moran, and Michael Lesslie as Max moves closer to selecting writers for the upcoming show. Deadline also reports that the field of writers has been culled down to “three finalists”, though we don’t know who among that list forms the other two.

Gardiner, who is known as a producer on the hit show Succession, as well as on Killing Eve and His Dark Materials. She has also been a writer on several other shows including Medici and Man in the High Castle, bringing an impressive resume.

That said, some fans are concerned to know that someone known for producing Succession — a dark, very adult drama about business inheritance– would be among the finalists for a Harry Potter show. While these critiques ignore her previous delvings into fantasy with shows like His Dark Materials, her tendency towards darker subject matter is at least of interest. It might help us guess at what the tone of the upcoming show might be.

In any case, this news comes just a few weeks after Deadline reported that the previously-selected writers were presenting their pitches to Max for the series. The addition of another writer into the fray indicates that Max is testing out many ideas from proven writers, and seems promising. At this stage, of course, we do not know whichy writers will end up being selected for the project, much less what ideas will be chosen, but it is clear that Max is willing to seek them out from far and wise.

Deadline also reported that it was expected that J.K. Rowling is directly involved with these pitches, and that a “decision is expected soon.” As fans, we sure hope so: we can’t wait to see who will be leading the charge in bringing “Harry Potter” to the screen once more!