The first castings for the Harry Potter TV show on HBO have been confirmed, which include John Lithgow, Paapa Essiedu and Nick Frost.

Rumours around the castings for specific roles had been floating around online for months but have now been officially revealed.

Series regulars will include John Lithgow as Albus Dumbledore, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid.

Additionally, Luke Thallon was announced to play Quirinus Quirrell, and Paul Whitehouse will play Argus Filch.

The series, designed to run for more than a decade, comes from the writer and showrunner Francesca Gardiner and director and executive producer Mark Mylod of Succession, The Guardian reports.

In a statement, the pair said: "We are happy to announce the casting of John Lithgow, Janet McTeer, Paapa Essiedu, Nick Frost, Luke Thallon and Paul Whitehouse to play Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Hagrid, Quirrell and Filch.

“We’re delighted to have such extraordinary talent onboard, and we can’t wait to see them bring these beloved characters to new life.”

According to HBO, the series will be a “faithful adaptation” of the books by J.K. Rowling, who serves as an executive producer.

The series will be “full of the fantastic detail, much-loved characters and dramatic locations that Harry Potter fans have loved for over 25 years”, Max, the newly branded streaming service for HBO, promised in a statement upon the series announcement in April 2023.

“Each season will be authentic to the original books and bring Harry Potter and these incredible adventures to new audiences around the world, while the original, classic and beloved films will remain at the core of the franchise and available to watch globally.”

The series is expected to debut on Max and the HBO and Warner Bros Discovery streaming services in 2026.

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Who will play Harry, Ron and Hermione?

The casting for the trio of main characters – Harry, Hermione and Ron – is yet to be announced.

However, they will likely be played by newcomers after Warner Bros launched an open casting call for children aged between nine and 11 last autumn.

There have also been rumours that Cillian Murphy is being considered to play Voldemort.