Overview

Heyday Films is a British film production company founded in 1996 by producer David Heyman.

Based in the United Kingdom, it develops films in partnership with major international studios and distributors while remaining independent.

Heyday is best known for producing all eight Harry Potter films, from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 2001 to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 in 2011.

This collaboration with Warner Bros. profoundly changed the scale of the company and established David Heyman as one of the leading British producers of his generation.

Heyday is not limited to the Wizarding World, however. Its catalog includes productions as varied as Ravenous, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Gravity, Paddington, Testament of Youth, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Marriage Story, Barbie and Wonka.

The company has also expanded into television, and David Heyman is now involved in the new television adaptation of Harry Potter.

After a relationship of nearly thirty years with Warner Bros., Heyday entered a new period in 2026 with a first-look deal signed with Amazon MGM Studios.

David Heyman is also producing the next James Bond film alongside Amy Pascal.

History

1996 — David Heyman founds Heyday Films

David Heyman founded his production company in London in 1996, after spending several years working between the United Kingdom and the United States.

A Harvard graduate, he began his career in the film industry during the 1980s before working notably at United Artists and later as an independent producer.

The company that would become Heyday Films was incorporated on October 10, 1996.

It briefly operated under the name Cherubs Limited before adopting the name Heyday Films in December.

Heyman notably wanted to develop projects based on books and search for stories capable of becoming genuine cinematic experiences.

This literary focus would quickly play a decisive role in the company’s future.

1999 — Ravenous, the first feature film

The first feature film produced under the Heyday banner was Ravenous, directed by Antonia Bird and released in 1999.

The film blends western, horror and dark comedy in a story set during the nineteenth century.

Very different from the large-scale family productions Heyday would later become associated with, Ravenous already demonstrated an interest in projects with distinctive identities.

But it was a children’s book discovered during this period that would completely transform the company.

Discovering Harry Potter

In the late 1990s, Heyday received the manuscript of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J. K. Rowling.

David Heyman became interested in the novel’s cinematic potential and helped bring the project to Warner Bros.

The studio acquired the film rights and began developing the first movie.

Heyman became the central producer of the saga and remained involved far beyond a single adaptation.

This relationship with Harry Potter would define a major part of Heyday’s identity over the following decade.

2001 — Harry Potter comes to the screen

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, directed by Chris Columbus, was released in 2001.

Its worldwide success was enormous.

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson became Harry, Ron and Hermione and the faces of a franchise that would accompany an entire generation of viewers.

Heyday and Warner Bros. then set out to adapt each of J. K. Rowling’s novels.

The series had to maintain artistic and industrial continuity while allowing its tone to mature as the characters grew older.

Eight films and a decade of production

The saga continued with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in 2002, followed by Prisoner of Azkaban in 2004 under the direction of Alfonso Cuarón.

Mike Newell then directed Goblet of Fire, before David Yates took over the final four stories beginning with Order of the Phoenix.

The final novel was adapted into two films.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, released in 2011, concluded a series of eight feature films produced over roughly ten years.

David Heyman remained a producer across the entire saga, giving Heyday an unusually strong continuity for a franchise of this scale.

A lasting relationship with Warner Bros.

The success of Harry Potter established an especially close relationship between Heyday Films and Warner Bros.

The company remained independent but operated for many years under a first-look arrangement with the studio.

This structure allowed Heyday to develop different projects while benefiting from a major partner for financing and distribution.

The collaboration gradually extended beyond Harry Potter.

Heyday became involved in several Warner productions across very different genres during the following decades.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

In 2008, Heyday produced The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, adapted from John Boyne’s novel.

Directed by Mark Herman, the film tells the story of the relationship between two children separated by the fence of a concentration camp during the Second World War.

The production illustrates Heyday’s willingness to develop smaller, dramatic literary adaptations alongside major franchises.

This diversity became a lasting characteristic of the company.

2013 — Gravity

In 2013, Heyday produced Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón with Warner Bros.

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney play two astronauts facing disaster in Earth orbit.

The film relies on an especially ambitious combination of visual effects, digital animation and direction.

Gravity became a major critical and commercial success and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Director for Alfonso Cuarón.

The film confirmed Heyday’s ability to support technically complex projects outside the Wizarding World.

2014 — Paddington

A new franchise began in 2014 with Paddington, adapted from the character created by Michael Bond.

Directed by Paul King, the film combines live action and digital animation to tell the story of a young bear arriving in London from Peru.

The project achieved major critical and audience success.

Paddington 2, released in 2017, further strengthened the series’ reputation through its humor, direction and deeply warm tone.

The franchise became one of the projects most closely associated with Heyday after Harry Potter.

Testament of Youth and a diverse catalog

The same period saw Heyday produce Testament of Youth, adapted from Vera Brittain’s memoir about her experiences during the First World War.

The film reinforced the important place literary adaptations hold in the company’s strategy.

Heyday alternates between family productions, historical dramas, major franchises and films more closely associated with auteur cinema.

This diversity gradually allowed the company to establish an identity beyond the success of Harry Potter alone.

2016 — Fantastic Beasts

Heyday returned directly to the Wizarding World in 2016 with Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Directed by David Yates and written by J. K. Rowling, the film follows magizoologist Newt Scamander several decades before the Harry Potter story.

Two sequels followed: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022.

David Heyman produced all three films.

The new series therefore continued Heyday’s relationship with the universe that had transformed the company in the early 2000s.

Heyday Television

Heyday also expanded into television.

A dedicated company, Heyday Television, was created in partnership with NBCUniversal’s international operations.

It became involved in series such as The Capture, Clickbait and Apples Never Fall.

Heyday also worked within the Paddington television universe through The Adventures of Paddington.

This diversification allowed David Heyman and his teams to develop stories in formats longer than feature films.

2019 — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

In 2019, Heyday was one of the production companies behind Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.

The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in a reinterpretation of Hollywood at the end of the 1960s.

The production marked a collaboration with Sony Pictures rather than Warner Bros. and demonstrated Heyday’s ability to work with different major studios.

The film received numerous awards and nominations, including at the Academy Awards.

Marriage Story

That same year, David Heyman produced Marriage Story by Noah Baumbach for Netflix.

Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver play a couple facing separation and an increasingly complex divorce process.

The film received six Academy Award nominations, with Laura Dern winning Best Supporting Actress.

After global franchises and technically ambitious blockbusters, Heyday thus confirmed its presence in far more intimate, character-driven cinema.

2023 — Barbie

In 2023, Heyday participated in one of its biggest successes with Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig.

David Heyman produced the film alongside Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner.

The project transformed Mattel’s famous doll into a production combining comedy, satire, spectacle and reflection on identity.

Barbie became a cultural phenomenon and a major worldwide success.

The film gave Heyday another defining production entirely separate from the worlds of Harry Potter and Paddington.

2023 — Wonka

That same year, Heyday reunited with director Paul King for Wonka.

The film imagines the younger years of Willy Wonka before the events of Roald Dahl’s story.

Timothée Chalamet plays the chocolatier in a production mixing comedy, fantasy and musical elements.

The project continued an important creative relationship between David Heyman and Paul King after the first two Paddington films.

Its success also reinforced Heyday’s historic interest in literary adaptations and family-oriented universes capable of reaching several generations.

Harry Potter returns to television

Heyday remains deeply connected to Harry Potter more than twenty years after the original film series began.

David Heyman serves as an executive producer on the new Harry Potter series produced for HBO in association with Warner Bros. Television and Brontë Film and TV.

The series returns to J. K. Rowling’s novels with a new cast and a format allowing each book to receive a full season.

The production therefore represents another major stage in Heyday’s relationship with the Wizarding World.

2025 — James Bond

In 2025, Amazon MGM Studios announced that David Heyman and Amy Pascal would produce the next James Bond film.

Heyman is producing the project through Heyday Films, while Pascal is involved through Pascal Pictures.

Denis Villeneuve was chosen to direct the film and Steven Knight to write the screenplay.

For Heyday, becoming involved with James Bond represents a major milestone: after Harry Potter, Paddington and several large international productions, the company is now helping shape the future of one of British cinema’s longest-running and most prestigious franchises.

2026 — A new relationship with Amazon MGM Studios

In August 2026, Heyday Films signed a multi-year first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios.

The agreement covers future live-action, animation, scripted and unscripted projects that David Heyman wishes to develop.

It ends the historic first-look arrangement that had linked Heyday to Warner Bros. for nearly thirty years.

The change does not, however, end all existing collaborations with Warner: David Heyman remains involved in the new Harry Potter series.

Heyday therefore enters a new phase of its history while maintaining its status as an independent production company.

What sets it apart

A company closely associated with David Heyman

Heyday Films is first and foremost built around the work of David Heyman.

Unlike a major studio with numerous autonomous divisions, the company retains a producer-driven identity.

Heyman is directly involved in developing projects, choosing partners and supporting filmmakers.

This organization gives the company strong creative continuity despite the wide variety of its productions.

Harry Potter as the defining project

No work has shaped Heyday’s history more than Harry Potter.

David Heyman produced all eight films in the original saga, followed by the three Fantastic Beasts films, before returning to the universe as executive producer of the new television adaptation.

This involvement across several decades makes Heyday one of the companies most consistently associated with the Wizarding World.

The franchise also allowed the company to evolve from a young British production business into an internationally recognized producer.

A strong culture of adaptation

A significant part of Heyday’s catalog originates in literature.

Harry Potter, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Paddington, Testament of Youth, Fantastic Beasts, The Light Between Oceans, The Secret Garden and Wonka all maintain, in different ways, a relationship with written works.

Heyday nevertheless develops these adaptations across extremely varied tones, from family cinema and fantasy to historical drama.

Projects at very different scales

Heyday can participate in global productions such as Harry Potter, Gravity, Barbie or Wonka, while also supporting more intimate films such as Marriage Story or Testament of Youth.

This ability to avoid depending on a single production scale distinguishes the company.

It also allows Heyday to work with filmmakers whose approaches differ greatly from one another.

Long-term creative collaborations

Several collaborations run throughout Heyday’s history.

David Yates directed the final four Harry Potter films and later all three Fantastic Beasts films.

Alfonso Cuarón worked with Heyday on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and later Gravity.

Paul King directed Paddington, Paddington 2 and then Wonka.

These relationships allow Heyday to build its catalog around recurring creators rather than a single production formula.

An independent company able to work with major studios

Heyday does not operate the distribution network of a major studio.

Its model relies on collaborations with partners capable of financing and distributing its productions.

Warner Bros. was its principal partner for many years, notably on Harry Potter, Gravity, Fantastic Beasts, Barbie and Wonka.

Heyday has also worked with 20th Century Fox, StudioCanal, Sony Pictures, Netflix and other companies.

Since 2026, its new first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios has opened a new phase of development.

Good to know

  • Heyday Films was incorporated in London on October 10, 1996.
  • The company was initially named Cherubs Limited before becoming Heyday Films in December 1996.
  • David Heyman is its founder and continues to lead the company.
  • Its first feature film was Ravenous, released in 1999.
  • Heyday produced all eight Harry Potter films released between 2001 and 2011.
  • David Heyman remained a producer across the entire original film saga.
  • Heyday maintained a privileged relationship with Warner Bros. for nearly thirty years.
  • The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was released in 2008.
  • Gravity, produced by Heyday and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, won seven Academy Awards in 2014.
  • Paddington began its film series in 2014, followed by Paddington 2 in 2017.
  • Heyday produced all three Fantastic Beasts films released between 2016 and 2022.
  • The company also develops television productions through Heyday Television.
  • Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Marriage Story were both released in 2019.
  • Heyday participated in Barbie by Greta Gerwig in 2023.
  • That same year, Wonka reunited David Heyman with Paul King.
  • David Heyman is an executive producer on the new Harry Potter television series for HBO.
  • In 2025, Amazon MGM Studios selected David Heyman and Amy Pascal to produce the next James Bond film.
  • David Heyman is producing James Bond through Heyday Films.
  • Denis Villeneuve is set to direct the new James Bond film, written by Steven Knight.
  • In August 2026, Heyday Films signed a new multi-year first-look deal with Amazon MGM Studios.
  • The agreement succeeds Heyday’s long-standing first-look relationship with Warner Bros.
  • Heyday Films remains an independent British production company, active across film and television.