The Harry Potter movies left Peacock, but they will hopefully be back soon

In August, all eight Harry Potter movies were available to stream exclusively on Peacock in the United States, but that all changed very recently.

On Sept. 1, the Harry Potter movies moved from Peacock, where they were for the month of August, back to MAX. Now, you can watch all eight of the Harry Potter movies on MAX right now.

If the MAX Top 10 list is any indication, fans are watching the Harry Potter movies on MAX right now. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban are on the Max Top 10 list on Thursday, Sept. 5. As fans continue their Harry Potter marathons, we should see the other five movies crack the top 10 sometime in the next week or so.

Why the Harry Potter movies left Peacock

That's what fans want to know! Peacock and MAX often use the Harry Potter movies in marketing to try to convince potential subscribers to sign up. Now, the Harry Potter movies are missing from the Peacock lineup, and fans want to know what's going on.

Well, if you've been a subscriber to Peacock or MAX over the years, you know that the Harry Potter movies come and go from the streamers every few months. Typically, they're on one streamer or the other for about six months, although there are times when the movies bounce back and forth with a little more regularity, including the latest spell on Peacock. The Harry Potter movies were only available to stream for a very short period. All eight movies were on Peacock for just a month.

This is all possible because NBCUniversal and MAX license the rights to the movies. Warner Bros. owns MAX, while NBCUniversal started licensing the rights to the Harry Potter movies in 2019, according to a report from Investopedia. In addition to Peacock, NBCUniversal has TV rights for the Harry Potter movies on USA and SYFY at different times of the year.

So, for most of the year, the Harry Potter movies stream on MAX with a few short breaks to stream on Peacock and air on USA and SYFY.

When will the Harry Potter movies be back on Peacock?

Well, the good news is you can always watch the Harry Potter movies somewhere. Right now, that's on MAX. Later this year, you should be able to watch the Harry Potter movies on USA and SYFY. We might even see the movies on Peacock for another month, but that's a little more unlikely.

For Halloween, which is a popular time to watch the Harry Potter movies, along with Christmas, we should see the Harry Potter movies remain on MAX.

It's much more likely that we'll see the Harry Potter movies back on Peacock in the spring of 2025. That's been consistent with Peacock adding the movie franchise for a limited time during the spring. That's been true every year since Peacock started.

Earlier this year, Peacock added the Harry Potter movies in March 2024. Hopefully, that will happen again in 2025.

Unfortunately, NBCUniversal only has the rights to the Harry Potter movies through the end of April 2025. So, if the Harry Potter movies aren't added back to Peacock before April 2025, we won't see the movies on the streamer again.

That would be a major bummer! Accessibility to these movies is important for fans. Not everyone can afford a MAX subscription. It's one of the more expensive streamers right now, so having the movies on Peacock is obviously a good thing.

What happens after April 2025?

That's when things get tricky! Well, the ball is really in Warner Bros.' court. If they want to continue licensing the rights to the Harry Potter movies, they will accept bids and likely license the rights to the films to the highest bidder sometime next year.

NBCUniversal could be interested in licensing those rights. Universal is probably the safest bet, considering they also have The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at -- you guessed it! -- Universal Orlando.

We'll share more about the licensing rights to the Harry Potter movies as we find out. And, of course, we will share when the Harry Potter movies will be back on Peacock.