HBO’s Harry Potter Is Already Blowing Game Of Thrones Out Of The Water

HBO’s Harry Potter is already dethroning Game of Thrones as the platform’s biggest and best fantasy project. Of course, it can hardly be denied that the Harry Potter remake is happening only because of Game of Thrones’ success. The adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s works effectively demonstrated the advantages of television over film in bringing books to the screen. It allowed Game of Thrones to quickly establish itself as a global phenomenon while HBO further solidified itself as the king of cinema-quality TV shows. Now, it’s Harry Potter‘s turn.

We weren’t expecting any real look at the Harry Potter TV show for quite a while, since HBO previously announced that season 1 would premiere in 2027 (and even that was said with some uncertainty). However, the company surprised us with the release of a full two-minute trailer and the announcement that Harry Potter season 1 will premiere on Christmas Day, 2026.

The Harry Potter trailer is a pretty big deal, and its release quickly became a social event in its own right. Naturally, public response to this first look is all over the place. People are excited, angry, optimistic, critical, skeptical, frustrated, and every other possible emotion in between. It’s hard to say so far just how successful the Harry Potter TV show is going to be. However, this first trailer alone caught more attention than any Game of Thrones promotion ever did.

The Harry Potter Trailer Is The Most Watched In HBO History

Back when the first trailer for Game of Thrones season 8 was released, it set a significant record for HBO. In just 24 hours, the trailer gained a whopping 81 million organic views, dethroning season 7’s record by more than 20 million. Now, this achievement has been dwarfed by the Harry Potter TV show trailer. This newest HBO trailer gained 126 million organic views in its first 24 hours. Then, by the end of day two, Harry Potter season 1’s first look had over $277 million views.

Considering the intense hype in the lead-up to Game of Thrones‘ final season, it’s pretty amazing that the season 1 trailer for Harry Potter would come in so much higher in terms of views. It can, at the very least, be concluded that the public is supremely interested in this upcoming TV remake series. It’s also a sign that HBO’s fantasy figurehead is about to change. If those trailer views translate to Harry Potter‘s season 1 viewership, this could become a cultural phenomenon unlike anything we have ever seen before.

Will HBO’s Harry Potter TV Show Be Better Than Game Of Thrones In Practice?

Though things are looking pretty good based on Harry Potter‘s first trailer, there’s no way to definitively predict how this show will be received compared to Game of Thrones. In many ways, HBO’s upcoming fantasy TV show is at a disadvantage. Game of Thrones had a fresh and clean start with its first season, but the Harry Potter remake has been controversial since day one. People are eager to disapprove of this series, and a significant percentage of those trailer views surely come from people who have no actual interest in seeing the series.

Still, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. The Harry Potter trailer’s wide reach guarantees that more people are interested in watching it than before it dropped. There are several other advantages involved here as well. Despite controversy, Harry Potter remains one of the most popular fantasy franchises of all time. The mainstream familiarity means the new series will have a major edge over Game of Thrones. Then, beyond this, it must be considered that Harry Potter has a broader target audience than HBO’s fantasy cornerstone.

Game of Thrones is a strictly adult TV show. Harry Potter, on the other hand, is more likely to be marketed toward ages 14 and above, with plenty of even younger viewers bound to tune in as well. This multiplies the audience base several times over compared to Game of Thrones. Whether Harry Potter will be better than Game of Thrones will remain subjective. However, given those trailer numbers and the overall viewer potential, it’s very unlikely that Harry Potter will ever come anywhere near failure.