HBO Max dropped a new “Coming Soon” promo Sunday that gives fans their first look at Dominic McLaughlin in Quidditch gear as Harry Potter, the centerpiece of a slate spot rolling out the streamer’s back half of 2026. The promo, posted to HBO Max’s social accounts, runs through more than a dozen titles in order of release, and it leans hardest on the wizard property the company is betting big on.
That bet has a track record now. HBO Max’s first “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” teaser, released in March, became the most-watched trailer in HBO and HBO Max history, according to Deadline. The new spot recycles some of that footage, including McLaughlin’s Harry meeting wandmaker Garrick Ollivander, played by Anton Lesser, but adds the fresh shot of Harry striding toward the Quidditch pitch. The series premieres Christmas Day, December 25.
McLaughlin, a Scottish newcomer, was cast from a pool of more than 30,000 young actors who auditioned last fall. He stars alongside Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. The adult cast is stacked: John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid, and Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy. Francesca Gardiner, a “Succession” writer, serves as showrunner. Mark Mylod, who directed on “Game of Thrones” and “Succession,” directs multiple episodes and executive produces. Season 1 runs eight episodes and adapts the first book, with HBO planning to take each of J.K. Rowling’s seven novels across its own season.
The promo doesn’t stop at Hogwarts. It teases “Lanterns,” the DC Studios drama with Kyle Chandler shown in his Green Lantern suit, set to debut August 16. Aaron Pierre co-stars as John Stewart in a story that drops two Lantern Corps members into a murder mystery in the American heartland. Chandler plays veteran Hal Jordan.
There’s also “Stuart Fails to Save the Universe,” the “Big Bang Theory” spin-off that brings back Kevin Sussman as comic-book-store owner Stuart Bloom. That one lands July 23. HBO is filling the rest of the calendar with returning heavyweights. “House of the Dragon” Season 3 arrives June 21, and “The Gilded Age” Season 4 is dated only for 2026 so far. The Julian Fellowes period drama got a Season 4 first look in the spot, more than a year after HBO renewed it in July 2025.
Francesca Orsi, executive vice president of HBO Programming and head of HBO Drama Series and Films, praised the show’s viewership when the renewal was announced. “We couldn’t be prouder of the undeniable viewership heights ‘The Gilded Age’ has achieved this season,” she said in a statement at the time, calling the 1880s New York drama a can’t-miss-it experience week to week.
Rounding out the spot are “Conan O’Brien Must Go” Season 3, the Larry David comedy “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness” arriving June 26, the football docuseries “Hard Knocks: Training Camp with the Seattle Seahawks” landing in August, and four titles dated only for 2026, the documentaries “Monsters of God” and “The Man Will Burn” plus the dramas “War” and “Youth.”
Notably absent are the 2027 tentpoles HBO is holding back, including “True Detective” Season 5, “The Last of Us” Season 3, and “The White Lotus” Season 4. For now, the wizards lead the way, with “House of the Dragon” up next on June 21.