John Lithgow is in final negotiations to play the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore in the 'Harry Potter' TV series.
The 79-year-old star is said to be close to a deal to portray the Hogwarts headmaster in the HBO small screen adaptation of J.K. Rowling's wizardry book series, although the network are refusing to comment on the speculation.
HBO said in a statement: "We appreciate that such a high-profile series will draw a lot of rumour and speculation.
"As we make our way through pre-production, we will only confirm details as we finalise deals."
John will be taking on a role that was played by late actors Richard Harris and Sir Michael Gambon in the film franchise.
The 'Harry Potter' series is designed to run over the course of a decade and HBO chief Casey Bloys promised that the show would be a "faithful adaptation" of Rowling's novels and will "dive deep into each of the iconic books".
In September last year, an open casting call was launched to find a new trio to take on the parts of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who were played by Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson respectively in the movies.
The casting call read: "We are currently only able to consider children who are aged 9-11 in April 2025, and a resident of the UK or Ireland.
"Please only apply if you meet the brief."
It was previously claimed that Sir Mark Rylance was wanted by producers to take on the role of Dumbledore.
According to Variety, the 'Wolf Hall' actor was "top of the casting wishlist" for the show and Warner Bros. had "reached out" to the star to "gauge interest and availability".
