First photos emerge of Dominic McLaughlin playing Harry Potter as production commences on TV adaptation

Make way, Daniel Radcliffe — there’s a new wizard in town.

The first photo of Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter has been released as production commences on HBO’s big-budget TV adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s novels.

Production has commenced at the Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, UK , almost 14 years to the day after film production concluded for the original Harry Potter movies, which famously saw Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint take on the central roles of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.

The photo shows the young star dressed in his Hogwarts robe and uniform, sporting his famous circular glasses, with his zigzag scar just visible beneath a mop of dark brown hair.

In this adaptation McLaughlin, Arabella Stanton and Alastair Stout were chosen out of more than 30,000 children who auditioned to play the key roles of the three young would-be wizards.

The series, which is executive produced by Rowling, remains shrouded in secrecy but Rowling, who is not a full-time screenwriter on the adaptation though heavily involved in the show’s creation, has given her tick of approval.

“I read the first two episodes of the forthcoming HBO Harry Potter series and they are SO, SO, SO GOOD!” she told fans on X recently.

Joining the young stars are a host of established names, including John Lithgow (Albus Dumbledore), Janet McTeer (Minerva McGonagall), Paapa Essiedu (Severus Snape), Nick Frost (Rubeus Hagrid), Luke Thallon (Quirinus Quirrell) and Paul Whitehouse (Argus Filch).

The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson will play Molly Weasley, with Lovesick star Johnny Flynn taking on Lucius Malfoy.

The series is led by showrunner Francesca Gardibner and directed by Succession’s Mark Mylod, and will see each of the seven Harry Potter books make up each of the seasons.

The first series is expected to hit screens some time in 2027.