The Harry Potter movies are coming to Peacock a month after leaving HBO Max

The Harry Potter movie franchise is one of the most successful in box office history, and it’s quickly becoming one of the most important in the streaming wars as well. The series first appeared on HBO Max as a surprise launch-day addition, then fans learned that it would be disappearing from the service just a few months later. Now, it seems the series will be headed to Peacock a month after it leaves HBO Max.

According to a report from Vulture, the Harry Potter movie franchise will arrive on Peacock sometime this October.

“According to Frances Manfredi, president of content acquisition and strategy for Peacock, the Potter movies will play on the service during multiple windows between October and March,” Vulture reported. “The first window will last for a month, with the movies then airing on NBCU’s linear broadcast and cable networks (and, potentially, their websites). They’ll then return to Peacock early in 2021.”

All this jumping from one platform to another like they’re connected by the Floo Network is thanks to a few very complicated rights deals surrounding the Harry Potter franchise. While Warner Bros., the parent company of HBO and the HBO Max streaming service, actually produced and distributed the series during its theatrical run, it has since licensed the rights to other companies.

Most recently, it licensed the rights to NBCUniversal until 2025. However, with the launch of HBO Max, it seems that the two companies have worked out a new and extremely complicated deal that could see the series hop back and forth between services for the next several years.