Seems the rest of our lives will just be intervals of Harry Potter getting repackaged and sold back to us in different formats (which is, of course, a microcosm of Hollywood’s tendency to regurgitate established IP). Last year, Audible—Amazon’s audiobook and podcast service—announced a new, full-cast audio production of J.K. Rowling’s entire series. This is separate from HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter television series, though as it happens the two productions share a Hermione Granger in Arabella Stanton.
The rest of the cast differs from the TV series, and it’s admittedly an impressive one. Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife) serves as the narrator, while Matthew Macfadyen (Succession) will voice Lord Voldemort, Riz Ahmed (The Night Of) will voice Professor Snape, and Michelle Gomez (Doctor Who, The Flight Attendant) will voice Professor McGonagall. Hugh Laurie (House) is on board as Albus Dumbledore, joining his longtime collaborator Stephen Fry in the grand tradition of Harry Potter audiobooks.
Laurie released a statement in which he made playing a wizard from a kids’ series sound kind of like playing Macbeth. “I’m honored to have been trusted with the keys to Albus Dumbledore, and thrilled to be able to take him around the track of this beautiful incarnation by Pottermore and Audible,” he said (via The Hollywood Reporter). “I’m also deeply conscious of previous drivers Richard Harris, Michael Gambon, Jude Law and the iconic narrations by Jim Dale and my colleague Sir Stephen Fry. Just below the horizon, but headed our way, is the rough beast John Lithgow [in HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series], his hour come round at last. This is great company, and it’s a privilege to be among their number.”
When speaking of what great company it is to be among the vast Harry Potter family, no one ever seems to mention Rowling anymore, though she is undoubtedly making money off the endeavor to funnel into her anti-transgender political agenda. Anyway, this particular company includes two Golden trios. For the first three books, Stanton will play Hermione alongside Max Lester as Ron and Frankie Treadaway as Harry (like Stanton, Treadaway is an alum of Matilda The Musical stage show). The younger cast then passes the baton to Jaxon Knopf (Pinocchio) as Harry, Rhys Mulligan as Ron, and Nina Barker-Francis (The Jetty) as Hermione for books four through seven. Further cast will be announced later; the first installment, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone, will be available November 4.
