UK Public Shun New HBO Harry Potter TV Series

New research from William Hill Vegas has revealed a somewhat cold reception from the UK public to the first trailer for HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter TV series, with fewer than one in three Brits reacting positively online.

Using social listening tool Brandwatch, the study analysed thousands of UK-based posts on X (formerly Twitter) following the trailer’s release last Wednesday, measuring overall sentiment towards the reboot of the franchise.

The data shows that just 31% of reactions were positive, compared to a significantly higher 42% negative sentiment. A further 27% of posts were neutral, highlighting a largely unconvinced audience in the early stages of the series’ rollout.

With negative sentiment clearly leading the conversation, the figures suggest the trailer has struggled to generate widespread enthusiasm among UK audiences thus far.

William Hill spokesperson, Lee Phelps, commented: “Rebooting something as iconic as Harry Potter was always going to split opinion and our research suggests the new series has a bit of convincing to do before it wins fans over.

“Less than a third of reactions to last week’s trailer being positive shows just how attached audiences still are to the original films, and any new take is going to be judged against that legacy.

“That said, trailers don’t always tell the full story, and with a project of this scale, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see sentiment shift once the full episodes start to land.”