Harry Potter Skips Hall H: Our Predictions Graded

DavidINTRO

Becca HartwellHey, everyone, welcome back to the Sorting Room.

Speaker 3And oh boy, do we have a lineup to pick apart today.

Becca HartwellSo Showbizjunkies broke down HBO Max's SDCC twenty twenty six panels this week, and Harry Potter isn't in Hall H at all.

Speaker 3Nowhere! Meanwhile, Lanterns and Stuart Fails to Save the Universe get the big stage.

Becca HartwellAnd House of the Dragon gets bumped down to a fan screening.

Speaker 3A screening, not even a real panel slot.

Becca HartwellWhich means it's grading time on our own April Productions.

Speaker 3Oh, don't remind me.

Becca HartwellNo, no, we're doing it; receipts are getting pulled either way.

Speaker 3Fine, but then we look at why HBO Max picked these two shows for Hall H over everything else.

Becca HartwellThere's a pattern in the scheduling I want to trace. Follow the money, right?

Speaker 3Always with you.

Becca HartwellAnd later, NYCC in October, what does that mean? Does that panel actually need to deliver?

Speaker 3Full cast, real footage or just atmosphere and Coney Island theming?

Becca HartwellWe'll argue about it, don't worry.

Speaker 3We always do. So Hall H snubbed first?

Becca HartwellHall 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 3Wait, nothing? Not one mention on the whole SDCC schedule?

Becca HartwellZero. 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 3So the panel we kept speculating about...

Becca HartwellIsn't happening. Not this con, anyway.

Speaker 3Fine, but if Harry Potter's out I need to know what's actually filling that room. What's the big Hall H push?

Becca HartwellLanterns gets Friday July twenty fourth, the marquis slot; Kyle Chandler, Aaron Pierre and Damon Lindelof himself in the room.

Speaker 3Lindelof showing up in person, is HBO telling you where the money's going.

Becca HartwellDeadline'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 3Instead it went to a show nobody's actually seen yet.

Becca HartwellAnd 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 3Opening night slot for something that hasn't aired a single episode? That's a real bet on a debut.

Becca HartwellSure, but here's the part that actually stopped me.

Speaker 3Go.

Becca HartwellHouse 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 3Wait, wait, wait, that's the whole allocation? No cast? No Q&A?

Becca HartwellNot on the schedule they published. I figured Dragon would anchor the weekend and Lanterns would be the newcomer stuck in a smaller room.

Speaker 4Right.

Speaker 3Same! That's the opposite of what I would have guessed.

Becca HartwellWhich 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 3They're spending it on the two things fans don't already know they want.

Becca HartwellLindelof's name alone fills a room; Lorre's does too for a completely different crowd.

Speaker 3So dragon gets the quiet treatment because it doesn't need the sell.

Becca HartwellOr because six episodes deep into season three there's less to reveal.

Speaker 3Either way, that's not the hierarchy I had in my head back in April.

Becca HartwellHold on, didn't we actually draw that hierarchy out loud back in April? April?

Speaker 3Oh, we absolutely did.

Becca HartwellSo maybe before we act shocked, we should go check our own tape.

Speaker 3Because I have a feeling one of us called this and one of us really, really didn't.

Becca HartwellOK, so before we move on, I made calls on this back in April. Time to check the receipts.

Speaker 3Oh, 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 HartwellThank you. I'm just saying production timeline logic doesn't lie. They're still shooting.

Speaker 3Sure, but in Hall H or Bust, I called the exact shape of the snub. Zero panel, zero booth presence. You hedged.

Becca HartwellI did not hedge; I said 'Likely absent.'

Speaker 3Likely is a hedge.

Becca HartwellOkay-fine-guilty; but you predicted a surprise sizzle reel drop during someone else's panel. That didn't happen.

Speaker 3No, it didn't-I'll own that one. I wanted a stealth marketing move, and HBO Max just didn't blink.

Becca HartwellNothing-not even a tweet.

Speaker 3Which honestly stings more than a bad prediction.

Becca HartwellSee, I think that's the real tell here. You predicted drama; I predicted absence. Absence one.

Speaker 3Sure, but drama would have been more fun to be right about.

Becca HartwellCan't argue with that.

Speaker 3Where 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 HartwellAnd I said full panel, no question; I was wrong on that one-confirmed.

Speaker 3Wrong and it's fine to say it. A screening makes more sense than I think even I gave myself credit for.

Becca HartwellFollow the money on that one-a full panel costs cast travel, moderator fees, staging. The screening's cheap.

Speaker 3So really, split decision: you nailed Harry Potter's total absence, I nailed the Dragon's demotion.

Becca HartwellI'll take that; I'm giving myself an A minus.

Speaker 3I'm giving myself a B plus; the sizzle reel knocked me down.

Becca HartwellFair. Now the part neither of us called:

Speaker 3Go on?

Becca HartwellWhy 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 3Which ties right into career dates, doesn't it?

Becca HartwellShifting 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 3Right, so Hall H becomes the last big swing before launch.

Becca HartwellExactly, 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 3And then Superman fails to see the universe just one ups that entirely.

Becca HartwellIt premieres July twenty third, the actual day the convention starts.

Speaker 3Wait-same week?

Becca HartwellSame 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 3Harry Potter doesn't have that hook. Nothing's dropping this month.

Speaker 5Mm-hmm.

Becca HartwellNothing's dropping for over a year, actually.

Speaker 3Which loops back to House of the Dragon, kind of the control group here.

Becca HartwellRight; already has an audience. Deadline's July twelfth schedule piece mentions dozens of panels, but House of the Dragon just gets that screening.

Speaker 3Because it doesn't need the sell—people are already watching.

Becca HartwellSo 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.

DavidI'll push back a little. Percy Jackson's back in Hall H per Deadline, and season three is not exactly imminent.

Becca HartwellTrue, 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,

DavidNowhere near ready.

Becca Hartwellwhich means the snub isn't a snub, it's just not Harry Potter's turn on the clock yet.

DavidOkay, 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 HartwellGo on.

Davidthere's already an announcement on the books for October.

Becca HartwellThe sort pauses.

DavidAnd building on that pivot, WBD isn't waiting till SDCC to make a move: they've already locked in New York Comic Con.

Becca HartwellWait, already? For a Christmas premiere?

DavidYeah! FanTravels convention guide has NYCC running October eighth through eleventh back at the Javits Center.

Becca HartwellHmm. That's a lot tighter to launch than July.

DavidAnd 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 HartwellOh, Coney Island-somebody's got a mood board and a budget line for funnel cake props.

DavidProbably; 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 HartwellThree more months of radio silence after that snub does sting.

DavidEspecially with Lanterns and Stuart Fails. Gales is soaking up every panel slot this week.

Becca HartwellRight, so flip the calendar around, how does waiting actually help them?

DavidSDCC sits five months out from a Christmas release; NYCC in October is basically the on ramp straight into the holidays.

Becca HartwellSo instead of a July teaser that goes stale by November,

DavidYou get one push, concentrated, right when people start buying tickets.

Becca Hartwellfollow the money. They're not spreading the hype thin across six months, they're stacking it right before the register rings.

DavidWhich 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 HartwellNYCC's just the next domino falling in that plan.

DavidExactly.

Becca HartwellStill risky though-that's four months with almost nothing for the fan base that actually wants the marquee panel.

DavidSure, but a tight three week window right before Before Premiere probably converts better than a slow drip nobody notices.

Becca HartwellYeah, that math actually tracks. Building on that risk, what actually has to happen at the Javits Center in October?

DavidFull cast on that stage. No surprise video call. No half team appearance.

Becca HartwellRight. And footage, real footage, not a ten second sizzle reel.

DavidLook 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 HartwellThat's the bar. New characters teased, behind the scenes stories, the works.

DavidExactly. If Harry Potter shows up in October with Dominic McLaughlin and the kids just talking and there's no set footage...

Becca HartwellFans feel like they got a consolation prize.

DavidA pretty expensive one, given how long they've waited.

Becca HartwellFour months of silence only pays off if there's something at the end.

Speaker 3End.

DavidSo what's the payoff look like for you?

Becca HartwellMinimum, a trailer with actual dialogue, wand work, something real.

DavidI don't know if WBD's ready to show that much this early.

Becca HartwellWhich is why I'd call October the real test, not July.

DavidBold! So Comic-Con didn't matter?

Becca HartwellIt mattered for setting expectations. New York Comic Con is where they get paid off, or don't.

DavidMy prediction: cast shows up, no trailer. they lean hard on the Coney Island theming to distract everyone.

Becca HartwellA boardwalk instead of a wand.

DavidBasically. So here's the question for everyone this week.

Becca HartwellDoes spectacle cover for missing footage, or does the fandom see right through it?

DavidWe'll find out in October.

Becca HartwellOkay, so quick recap before we let you go.

DavidHarry Potter, zero presence at SDCC, not even a booth.

Becca HartwellAnd House of the Dragon getting bumped to a fan screening still bugs me.

DavidYou've said that four times now.

Becca HartwellI'm just saying, the takeaway here, HBO Max is playing convention slots like release date chess, not franchise ranking.

DavidWhich is why New York Comic Con in October is the real test.

Becca HartwellP.S.--Here's my open question for the week: Can that panel land actual footage, not just cast waving from a stage?

DavidPercy Jackson set the bar with a full trailer drop; Harry Potter needs to clear it.

Becca HartwellOr we're back here in October grading ourselves again.

DavidHopefully with better receipts this time.

Becca HartwellGo find us on social at The Sorting Room. Send us your set photos, your book chapter arguments, all of it.

DavidAnd subscribe if you haven't so you don't miss the NYCC breakdown.

Becca HartwellThanks for hanging out with us.

DavidSee you next week.