Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint reunite in Gryffindor common room

Cast will reunite to celebrate 20 years since the film franchise first began

The first image from the forthcoming Harry Potter reunion has been released, showing lead actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the Gryffindor common room.

The Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts special premieres on HBO Max on 1 January 2022.

It will celebrate 20 years since the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, which came out in the US and UK in November 2001. In the US, the film was titled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

Seven other films followed, including The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire, plus two movies spanning author JK Rowling’s final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The HBO special promises to tell “an enchanting making-of story through all-new in-depth interviews and cast conversations, inviting fans on a magical first-person journey through one of the most beloved film franchises of all time”.

“Like they never left. Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: #ReturnToHogwarts premieres New Year's Day on HBO Max,” a tweet sharing the new image said.

Included in the reunion are original cast members Radcliffe, Watson and Grint, Helena Bonham Carter, Ralph Fiennes, Jason Isaacs, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, Matthew Lewis and Evanna Lynch.

(AP)

Rowling was not interviewed for the special but will be featured in archive footage from previous interviews about the films.

Last year, many of the films’ core cast – including Watson, Radcliffe and Lynch – condemned Rowling for her stance on transgender rights.

“To all the people who now feel that their experience of the books has been tarnished or diminished, I am deeply sorry for the pain these comments have caused you,” Radcliffe said in an open letter for The Trevor Project, a non-profit organisation dedicated to crisis intervention and suicide prevention for LGBTQ+ people.

“If you found anything in these stories that resonated with you and helped you at any time in your life – then that is between you and the book that you read, and it is sacred,” he said.