Original Harry Potter director says there’s “no point” to a remake

We’re living in a reboot/remake world right now. And the turn-around timeframe has gotten so narrow that it feels like anything that hasn’t been touched in five years is prime for the picking. Because of that, the possibility of a Harry Potter reboot or remake has been on a lot of people’s minds lately.

Of course, everybody feels differently about the idea of revisiting this franchise. But one person who is absolutely against it is Chris Columbus, the director of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (and both original Home Alone movies, FYI). In an interview with journalist Jake Hamilton, the director was asked if he thinks the original Harry Potter films would ever be remade, and if they should be. He wasn’t a fan:

"I can’t answer the first– I don’t know. In this version of Hollywood that we live in, everybody is remaking everything and rebooting everything. I mean, there’s a Home Alone reboot coming out… What’s the point? The movie exists. Let’s just live with the movie that existed. There’s no point in any of us remaking The Wizard of Oz. There’s no point in any of us remaking the classic films. Make something original, because we need more original material. So no. No point."

Is a Harry Potter reboot or remake in the future?

While there’s no hard answer on whether Warner Bros. will try to remake Harry Potter, I’d like to think that the films are pretty solid where they are now, and fans should have nothing to worry about.

Plus, Warner Bros. is already expanding the original Harry Potter films with the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise. They should be able to keep the Harry Potter universe fresh enough that a remake isn’t necessary. It’d be like Disney going back and remaking the original Star Wars trilogy while still making sequel movies and TV shows based on that original trilogy. It would just mess up the foundation of the cinematic universe.

So it seems that the Harry Potter movies have a bit of insurance when it comes to protecting themselves from reboots and remakes. But possibly down the line, once Fantastic Beasts fizzles out, people may revisit this Harry Potter conversation if the franchise needs to be revived again.

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h/t Collider