Sky sues Warner Bros. over Harry Potter TV show rights

Just weeks after we heard HBO was opening casting calls for their upcoming Harry Potter TV series, Warner Bros. is being sued for their refusal to partner with UK brand Sky on the distribution. For years, Sky has released HBO content for UK audiences, but according to the suit, the US company is trying to keep the Harry Potter show to themselves, which Sky deems unfair.

Variety reports that Sky Group filed a lawsuit on Friday, Sept. 27, which says Warner Bros. went against their agreement. The lawsuit documents have been made public and you can read them here. The suit explains that per their agreement, Warner Bros. must partner with Sky on four Max shows per year, which are distributed to Sky subscribers in the UK and neighboring areas. As Variety points out, this likely was never an issue because Max has not been available in these regions, though that is expected to change as the streamer continues to expand.

The lawsuit alleges that Warner Bros. has breached their agreement multiple times, including the years 2021, 2022, and 2023. They also say that the US brand has not provided them with appropriate information for evaluation, without specifying the metrics. Getting into the Harry Potter series specifically, the lawsuit continues:

"If all that were not enough, Warner has now even brazenly denied Sky its right to partner on Warner’s highly valuable decade-long, tentpole television series adapting J.K. Rowling’s iconic Harry Potter novels, set to premiere in 2026 or 2027. Instead, Warner has largely disregarded the parties’ agreement and sought to keep the Harry Potter content for itself so that Warner can use it as the cornerstone of the launch of its Max streaming service in Europe."

Sky Group lawsuit

Per the suit, when confronted, Warner Bros. responded to Sky that the Harry Potter show was not green-lit yet, despite a press release going out about it. Well, at this point we all know the show is definitely confirmed considering a showrunner and directors have been tapped and casting will soon be underway if it's not already.

We'll be sure to let our readers know of any developments that come out of this lawsuit.

Warner Bros.' Harry Potter TV series was first reported on in Jan. 2021, though it wasn't until April 2023 that it was confirmed to be in development. At the time of this writing, the plan is to air the show for "10 consecutive years," according to HBO CEO Casey Bloys, on HBO. Initially, the show was planned for Max, but Warner Bros. decided to change their strategy in an effort to keep their big IP properties on HBO.

According to Sky's lawsuit, the fact that the series has moved from Max to HBO does not change their rights.