Harry Potter’s 20th anniversary special to release on New Year’s Day

HBO Max recently released a first look teaser for "Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts", ahead of its release on New Year's Day (January 1), amid rising fan excitement.

The new teaser features familiar faces like Robbie Coltrane (who played wizarding school Hogwarts's groundskeeper Hagrid), Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbotton) and Mark Williams (Arthur Weasley).

In addition to Coltrane, Lewis and Williams, Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange), and Gary Oldman (Sirius Black) will also star in the forthcoming special.

The retrospective special commemorates twenty years since the first film, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", was released in 2001, and is the final in a series of promotional events planned by Warner Bros this year – including a TV quiz with Dame Helen Mirren.

The reunion special will feature interviews and cast conversations about the making of the films, and has been described as a magical first-person journey through one of the most beloved film franchises of all time.

Notably, British author JK Rowling, who wrote the books the movies are based on, will not attend the special after multiple cast members criticised her comments about the transgender community.