Harry Potter Skips Hall H: Our Predictions Graded

David: INTRO Becca Hartwell: Hey, everyone, welcome back to the Sorting Room. Speaker 3: And oh boy, do we have a lineup to pick apart today. Becca Hartwell: So Showbizjunkies broke down HBO Max's SDCC twenty twenty six panels this week, and Harry Potter isn't in Hall H at all. Speaker 3: Nowhere! Meanwhile, Lanterns and Stuart Fails to Save the Universe get the big stage. Becca Hartwell: And House of the Dragon gets bumped down to a fan screening. Speaker 3: A screening, not even a real panel slot. Becca Hartwell: Which means it's grading time on our own April Productions. Speaker 3: Oh, don't remind me. Becca Hartwell: No, no, we're doing it; receipts are getting pulled either way. Speaker 3: Fine, but then we look at why HBO Max picked these two shows for Hall H over everything else. Becca Hartwell: There's a pattern in the scheduling I want to trace. Follow the money, right? Speaker 3: Always with you. Becca Hartwell: And later, NYCC in October, what does that mean? Does that panel actually need to deliver? Speaker 3: Full cast, real footage or just atmosphere and Coney Island theming? Becca Hartwell: We'll argue about it, don't worry. Speaker 3: We always do. So Hall H snubbed first? Becca Hartwell: Hall H snubbed first. Let's get into why Harry Potter got left off the biggest stage at Comic-Con. Okay, so it's official, Harry Potter isn't showing up, not even a booth. Speaker 3: Wait, nothing? Not one mention on the whole SDCC schedule? Becca Hartwell: Zero. Showbizjunkies posted HBO Max's full lineup for San Diego, running July 23rd through 26th and it's Lanterns, Stuart Fails to Save the Universe and a House of the Dragon screening. That's the list. Speaker 3: So the panel we kept speculating about... Becca Hartwell: Isn't happening. Not this con, anyway. Speaker 3: Fine, but if Harry Potter's out I need to know what's actually filling that room. What's the big Hall H push? Becca Hartwell: Lanterns gets Friday July twenty fourth, the marquis slot; Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre and Damon Lindelof himself in the room. Speaker 3: Lindelof showing up in person, is HBO telling you where the money's going. Becca Hartwell: Deadline's convention rundown backs that up. It's the full treatment: cast plus creator plus the Big Room. They kind of set up a lot of fans figured hey I figured Harry Potter would eventually get. Speaker 3: Instead it went to a show nobody's actually seen yet. Becca Hartwell: And Thursday-the day Hall H opens-that slot of Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, Chuck Lorre's new show, moderated by Felicia Day, debuting the same week as the convention. Speaker 3: Opening night slot for something that hasn't aired a single episode? That's a real bet on a debut. Becca Hartwell: Sure, but here's the part that actually stopped me. Speaker 3: Go. Becca Hartwell: House of the Dragon, HBO's biggest fantasy property. Be currently running, and shows Showbizjunkies has it getting a fan screening season three, episode six. No panel, no Hall H. Speaker 3: Wait, wait, wait, that's the whole allocation? No cast? No Q&A? Becca Hartwell: Not on the schedule they published. I figured Dragon would anchor the weekend and Lanterns would be the newcomer stuck in a smaller room. Speaker 4: Right. Speaker 3: Same! That's the opposite of what I would have guessed. Becca Hartwell: Which tells you something about how HBO's spreading Hall H this year. This year they're not spending it on the show people already show up for. Speaker 3: They're spending it on the two things fans don't already know they want. Becca Hartwell: Lindelof's name alone fills a room; Lorre's does too for a completely different crowd. Speaker 3: So dragon gets the quiet treatment because it doesn't need the sell. Becca Hartwell: Or because six episodes deep into season three there's less to reveal. Speaker 3: Either way, that's not the hierarchy I had in my head back in April. Becca Hartwell: Hold on, didn't we actually draw that hierarchy out loud back in April? April? Speaker 3: Oh, we absolutely did. Becca Hartwell: So maybe before we act shocked, we should go check our own tape. Speaker 3: Because I have a feeling one of us called this and one of us really, really didn't. Becca Hartwell: OK, so before we move on, I made calls on this back in April. Time to check the receipts. Speaker 3: Oh, I've been waiting for this. In Why Harry Potter is Skipping Hall H, you said the show wasn't ready to be seen yet. That part held up. Becca Hartwell: Thank you. I'm just saying production timeline logic doesn't lie. They're still shooting. Speaker 3: Sure, but in Hall H or Bust, I called the exact shape of the snub. Zero panel, zero booth presence. You hedged. Becca Hartwell: I did not hedge; I said 'Likely absent.' Speaker 3: Likely is a hedge. Becca Hartwell: Okay-fine-guilty; but you predicted a surprise sizzle reel drop during someone else's panel. That didn't happen. Speaker 3: No, it didn't-I'll own that one. I wanted a stealth marketing move, and HBO Max just didn't blink. Becca Hartwell: Nothing-not even a tweet. Speaker 3: Which honestly stings more than a bad prediction. Becca Hartwell: See, I think that's the real tell here. You predicted drama; I predicted absence. Absence one. Speaker 3: Sure, but drama would have been more fun to be right about. Becca Hartwell: Can't argue with that. Speaker 3: Where I think I edged you out, though, is House of the Dragon. I said Full Hall H Panel was overkill for a show mid season. Becca Hartwell: And I said full panel, no question; I was wrong on that one-confirmed. Speaker 3: Wrong and it's fine to say it. A screening makes more sense than I think even I gave myself credit for. Becca Hartwell: Follow the money on that one-a full panel costs cast travel, moderator fees, staging. The screening's cheap. Speaker 3: So really, split decision: you nailed Harry Potter's total absence, I nailed the Dragon's demotion. Becca Hartwell: I'll take that; I'm giving myself an A minus. Speaker 3: I'm giving myself a B plus; the sizzle reel knocked me down. Becca Hartwell: Fair. Now the part neither of us called: Speaker 3: Go on? Becca Hartwell: Why Lanterns and Stuart get the marquee treatment while two shows with way more built in fandom get sidelined. That's a scheduling story, not a snub story. Three Speaker 3: Which ties right into career dates, doesn't it? Becca Hartwell: Shifting to the why behind this, follow the money or in this case follow the calendar. Lanterns premieres August sixteenth, that's three weeks after SDCC wraps. Speaker 3: Right, so Hall H becomes the last big swing before launch. Becca Hartwell: Exactly, you want cast and creators in the room while the marketing engine's still warm. A panel now feeds trailers and press for the rest of summer. Speaker 3: And then Superman fails to see the universe just one ups that entirely. Becca Hartwell: It premieres July twenty third, the actual day the convention starts. Speaker 3: Wait-same week? Becca Hartwell: Same day." Showbizjunkies' July ninth piece has creators Chuck Lorre, Zak Penn and Bill Prady there with Kevin Sussman and Lauren Lapkus. That's not promotion, that's a launch party. Speaker 3: Harry Potter doesn't have that hook. Nothing's dropping this month. Speaker 5: Mm-hmm. Becca Hartwell: Nothing's dropping for over a year, actually. Speaker 3: Which loops back to House of the Dragon, kind of the control group here. Becca Hartwell: Right; already has an audience. Deadline's July twelfth schedule piece mentions dozens of panels, but House of the Dragon just gets that screening. Speaker 3: Because it doesn't need the sell—people are already watching. Becca Hartwell: So here's my theory: Hall H isn't loyalty, it's a countdown clock. You get the marquee slot when you're weeks from premiere, not months. David: I'll push back a little. Percy Jackson's back in Hall H per Deadline, and season three is not exactly imminent. Becca Hartwell: True, but that's Disney's calendar. Different studio, different math. For HBO Max specifically, look at the pattern, Lanterns, close, Suits fails, closer, Dragon, already airing, Harry Potter, David: Nowhere near ready. Becca Hartwell: which means the snub isn't a snub, it's just not Harry Potter's turn on the clock yet. David: Okay, but if Premiere Proximity is really the rule, that raises a bigger question about where Harry Potter is. Harry Potter does show up because Becca Hartwell: Go on. David: there's already an announcement on the books for October. Becca Hartwell: The sort pauses. David: And building on that pivot, WBD isn't waiting till SDCC to make a move: they've already locked in New York Comic Con. Becca Hartwell: Wait, already? For a Christmas premiere? David: Yeah! FanTravels convention guide has NYCC running October eighth through eleventh back at the Javits Center. Becca Hartwell: Hmm. That's a lot tighter to launch than July. David: And Wikipedia's got this one pegged as NYCC's tw- It's twentieth anniversary. They're doing a Coney Island theme for the whole event. Becca Hartwell: Oh, Coney Island-somebody's got a mood board and a budget line for funnel cake props. David: Probably; but, look, I get why fans are annoyed right now. SDCC's the biggest stage in the industry, and Harry Potter's Nowhere on it. Becca Hartwell: Three more months of radio silence after that snub does sting. David: Especially with Lanterns and Stuart Fails. Gales is soaking up every panel slot this week. Becca Hartwell: Right, so flip the calendar around, how does waiting actually help them? David: SDCC sits five months out from a Christmas release; NYCC in October is basically the on ramp straight into the holidays. Becca Hartwell: So instead of a July teaser that goes stale by November, David: You get one push, concentrated, right when people start buying tickets. Becca Hartwell: follow the money. They're not spreading the hype thin across six months, they're stacking it right before the register rings. David: Which lines up with that Christmas Day bet we talked about a few weeks ago-HBO already told us they're playing the long game with this release. Becca Hartwell: NYCC's just the next domino falling in that plan. David: Exactly. Becca Hartwell: Still risky though-that's four months with almost nothing for the fan base that actually wants the marquee panel. David: Sure, but a tight three week window right before Before Premiere probably converts better than a slow drip nobody notices. Becca Hartwell: Yeah, that math actually tracks. Building on that risk, what actually has to happen at the Javits Center in October? David: Full cast on that stage. No surprise video call. No half team appearance. Becca Hartwell: Right. And footage, real footage, not a ten second sizzle reel. David: Look at what Percy Jackson just got handed. Deadline reported Hall H brings back Walker Scobell, Aryan Simhadri, the whole young cast, plus executive producers Craig Silverstein. And Dan Shotz, moderated by Juju Green, for a first look at Season three. Becca Hartwell: That's the bar. New characters teased, behind the scenes stories, the works. David: Exactly. If Harry Potter shows up in October with Dominic McLaughlin and the kids just talking and there's no set footage... Becca Hartwell: Fans feel like they got a consolation prize. David: A pretty expensive one, given how long they've waited. Becca Hartwell: Four months of silence only pays off if there's something at the end. Speaker 3: End. David: So what's the payoff look like for you? Becca Hartwell: Minimum, a trailer with actual dialogue, wand work, something real. David: I don't know if WBD's ready to show that much this early. Becca Hartwell: Which is why I'd call October the real test, not July. David: Bold! So Comic-Con didn't matter? Becca Hartwell: It mattered for setting expectations. New York Comic Con is where they get paid off, or don't. David: My prediction: cast shows up, no trailer. they lean hard on the Coney Island theming to distract everyone. Becca Hartwell: A boardwalk instead of a wand. David: Basically. So here's the question for everyone this week. Becca Hartwell: Does spectacle cover for missing footage, or does the fandom see right through it? David: We'll find out in October. Becca Hartwell: Okay, so quick recap before we let you go. David: Harry Potter, zero presence at SDCC, not even a booth. Becca Hartwell: And House of the Dragon getting bumped to a fan screening still bugs me. David: You've said that four times now. Becca Hartwell: I'm just saying, the takeaway here, HBO Max is playing convention slots like release date chess, not franchise ranking. David: Which is why New York Comic Con in October is the real test. Becca Hartwell: P.S.--Here's my open question for the week: Can that panel land actual footage, not just cast waving from a stage? David: Percy Jackson set the bar with a full trailer drop; Harry Potter needs to clear it. Becca Hartwell: Or we're back here in October grading ourselves again. David: Hopefully with better receipts this time. Becca Hartwell: Go find us on social at The Sorting Room. Send us your set photos, your book chapter arguments, all of it. David: And subscribe if you haven't so you don't miss the NYCC breakdown. Becca Hartwell: Thanks for hanging out with us. David: See you next week.