Where to Stream Every Harry Potter Movie (in Order)

Where each Harry Potter film is streaming right now

Warner Bros. made all eight films, which is why HBO Max is their most frequent home in the US. They have also spent long periods on Peacock under a licensing deal, sometimes on both services at once and sometimes on neither. The list above reflects where they are today.

The eight films at a glance

The series changes character as it goes. The first two films are bright, faithful children’s adventures. Prisoner of Azkaban is the turning point, darker in look and looser in style, and many fans consider it the best film of the eight. From Goblet of Fire onwards, major characters die and the tone is closer to a war story than a school story.

The Fantastic Beasts prequels

The three Fantastic Beasts films are set decades before Harry Potter, in the 1920s and 1930s, and follow magizoologist Newt Scamander. They are optional viewing, but they fill in the history of Dumbledore and Grindelwald that the main series only hints at.

Be aware that the story is unfinished. Five films were planned and three were made, so the third ends without resolving everything it sets up. The first film is the most self-contained and the easiest to recommend on its own.

What order should you watch them in?

• Release order (recommended for first-timers). The eight Harry Potter films in order, from Philosopher’s Stone to Deathly Hallows: Part 2. The story reveals its secrets in the order it was meant to.
• Release order plus prequels. Add the three Fantastic Beasts films after the main series. They make more sense once you know who Dumbledore and Grindelwald become.
• Chronological order. The three Fantastic Beasts films first, then the eight Harry Potter films. Best for rewatchers who want the full timeline of the wizarding world.

Unlike some long-running series, there is no clever alternative order here. The eight films adapt seven books in sequence, each covering one school year, and every film assumes you have seen the one before. The only real decision is whether to include the prequels.

The cheapest way to watch the whole series

1. Check the list above first. If most films are included with one service you already pay for, start there.
2. Subscribe for one month. If the films are together on a single service you do not have, one month of that service usually costs less than renting eight films.
3. Rent only the gaps. If one or two films are on a different service, renting those is often cheaper than a second subscription.
4. Buy the box set if it is a yearly tradition. Because the series keeps moving between services, a box set is the only way to guarantee you can watch all eight whenever you want.

Outside the US, the films are often on different services entirely. Open any film above to see where it is available in your country.

Timing helps too. The films are in heavy demand between October and the end of the year, when cable channels run marathons and services promote them. If they are missing from the list above, check again at the start of the next month, which is when most catalog changes happen. Our guide to why movies leave streaming explains the pattern.

Owning the series

The 4K editions add HDR and lossless Dolby Atmos audio. The later films in particular are dark, effects-heavy productions that benefit from the extra picture quality. Our format guide explains what you need to play 4K discs.

Half-Blood Prince and the two Deathly Hallows films are among the darkest-looking blockbusters ever released, in the literal sense. On a compressed stream their night scenes can turn murky and blocky. That is the strongest practical argument for owning this series on disc. The set has been reissued many times in different packaging, so compare what is inside: the films are the same, but the number of bonus discs varies.