Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts First Look Brings Back Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint

The first look at Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is here. On Wednesday, HBO Max unveiled a still from the upcoming Harry Potter special — premiering on New Year's Day on HBO Max — featuring the lead trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint sitting in the Gryffindor common room. This is the first proper look we have had at Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, following a short tease unveiled over the weekend, attached to the Helen Mirren-hosted Harry Potter: Hogwarts Tournament of Houses (that airs on Amazon Prime Video in India). Return to Hogwarts will also be available to watch in India, but details on where it will be aired have not been announced yet.

As you can tell from the title, Return to Hogwarts is set to the celebrate the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter — specifically, the 20th anniversary of the franchise's first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, which released in November 2001. And just like Friends: The Reunion that was also made for HBO Max, Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts will feature interviews and cast conversations.

In addition to Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Watson (Hermione Granger), and Grint (Ron Weasley), Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts will also feature the likes of Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Jason Isaacs (Lucius Malfoy), Gary Oldman (Sirius Black), Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), James and Oliver Phelps (Fred and George Weasley), Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley), Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley), Alfred Enoch (Dean Thomas), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom), Evanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood), and Ian Hart (Quirinus Quirrell) among others.

Chris Columbus, who directed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will also be present. Harry Potter: Return to Hogwarts is a production of Warner Bros. Unscripted Television, in association with Warner Horizon. Casey Patterson of Casey Patterson Entertainment and Pulse Films are executive producers. Return to Hogwarts was filmed at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter.

J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter author, who is now reviled by parts of the fandom for her anti-trans views (and has found many vocal defenders too), is not involved with the reunion special. She will appear through archival footage though. Rowling is still deeply involved in the Harry Potter Wizarding World franchise, as producer and writer on the five-film Fantastic Beasts series.

Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts is out January 1, 2022 on HBO Max. A platform for India is not known yet, but the special will release here, Gadgets 360 has learnt. When Return to Hogwarts was announced in November, Warner Bros. said it would “roll out globally with more details to come.”