Summary

Disney's Snow White casting choices led to a box office disaster.
HBO's Harry Potter casting choices have divided fans so far.
HBO must balance originality and accuracy to avoid backlash.

Harry Potter is one of the biggest franchises of all time, with the novels having sold over 600 million copies worldwide. Meanwhile, the film series grossed a cumulative $7.7 billion at the box office. This puts HBO in a great position for success regarding their upcoming television adaptation of JK Rowling's beloved stories, but there's also a level of pressure.

Everything Harry Potter-related is viewed with a keen eye, and fans will demand that HBO stick as closely to the source material as possible. This is why they must get the casting for the Harry Potter reboot spot on and not make bold choices similar to Disney's with the recent Snow White live-action.

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By Matthew Wilkinson

Disney Made Unique Casting Decisions With Snow White, Which Led To Backlash

Snow White Suffered Drastically At The Box Office

Disney's live-action remakes may not always be the best quality, but they perform well at the box office. That's because Disney chooses major films to get this treatment, such as Snow White. A live-action remake of the beloved animated film should have been a guaranteed success on paper for Disney, yet it ended up being a disaster. Snow White is considered a box office bomb after grossing $204.8 million with a production budget of $240-270 million. It was one of Disney's most expensive movies and the fact that it came nowhere near close to breaking even made this a disaster for the company.

While multiple factors contributed to its box office performance, the casting choices did play a part in that, as people lost interest in the project before it even began. Having Rachel Zegler play Snow White was an example of that, as her casting led to a lot of negative and racist responses. Some people were displeased with an actress of Latin descent playing the titular role because the fairytale claimed she has "skin as white as snow," hence the movie's name. Disney also made controversy by deciding to have the Seven Dwarfs be computer-generated characters, which led to backlash from fans and people within the industry, such as Peter Dinklage. The situation frustrated a lot of people because the cast ended up being the opposite of what they initially expected.

HBO Has Already Made Some Controversial Casting Decisions With Harry Potter

Harry Potter Fans Have Been Divided By What HBO Has Done So Far

So far, only six actors have been officially confirmed as part of HBO's Harry Potter cast, although the 'Golden Trio' has also been cast, even though the actors haven't been publicly announced. John Lithgow will be Albus Dumbledore; Nick Frost has been confirmed as Hagrid, and Janet McTeer is Minerva McGonagall. On top of that, Paul Whitehouse has been cast as Argus Filch, while Paapa Essiedu will be Severus Snape. There is no denying the talent involved in all six of those actors, which is why they make sense to be hired, but they have divided fans for multiple reasons. The casting of Lithgow was a big surprise to most because he is American, which is a first for his British franchise. The film series didn't use American actors, especially when it comes to prominent roles; therefore, the decision to have Lithgow take on such an important role aggravated some fans.

HBO Must Find The Balance Between Making Harry Potter Original And Accurate

HBO Shouldn't Give Fans A Reason Not To Tune In Before Harry Potter Releases

The Harry Potter television adaptation is set to begin filming this summer ahead of a 2027 release. Therefore, HBO still has plenty of time to try and build up as much hype as possible. There is plenty of excitement for this show already because fans want to see how it will differ from the movie series. However, people are heading into it while presuming that all the characters will look and feel similar to how they did in the movies. That is important to some degree because it's vital that the show remains accurate to Rowling's original material, but at the same time, there must be some tweaks to make the show feel unique. If all the characters look exactly the same, then there's no point in it being created, as people may as well rewatch the movies. That is why making bold casting choices is thrilling for many fans, but there is only so far that it can be taken.

Disney's Snow White proves that too many controversial casting choices with essential characters can be devastating. It can lead to fans not being interested, and that's the last thing HBO should want. They already have to fight against the backlash that Rowling has received in recent years; therefore, pushing things too far with the cast would give people more of a reason not to view the television show when it is released. Having a few bold decisions sprinkled into a huge ensemble cast makes sense for Harry Potter, but going too far runs the risk of damaging the show's reputation before it even begins.

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