Mark Rylance is at the top of the casting wishlist for the new HBO "Harry Potter" adaptation, Variety has learned from sources familiar with the project. Rylance, who is starring as Thomas Cromwell in the highly-anticipated BBC period drama "Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light" (based on Hilary Mantel's novel),

Succeeded by the late Michael Gambon after Harris’ passing in 2002, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the debut of Albus Dumbledore who would finish the films out. While his chapters are very much in the ranks of the best Michael Gambon movies, fans had a monumental bone to pick with how The Singing Detective icon played the part.