Steven Spielberg reveals why he turned down the first Harry Potter movie
By Ariba Bhuvad
Imagine a world where Steven Spielberg directed the first Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Believe it or not, this was almost a reality back in 2001. The job eventually went to Christopher Columbus, but there was a brief moment where Spielberg, the guy behind everything from Jaws to Jurassic Park to Ready Player One, almost stepped into the Wizarding World.
Speaking with Reliance Entertainment, Spielberg revealed why he turned down the job when it came about. “The personal meaning about [how the conflict between] art and family will tear you in half happened to me later, after I had already established myself as a filmmaker, as a working director,” he said. “Kate [Capshaw] and I started raising a family and we started having children.
"The choice I had to make in taking a job that would move me to another country for four or five months where I wouldn’t see my family every day. That was a ripping kind of experience. There were several films I chose not to make. I chose to turn down the first ‘Harry Potter’ to basically spend that next year and a half with my family, my young kids growing up. So I’d sacrificed a great franchise, which today looking back I’m very happy to have done, to be with my family."
We can’t really judge him for choosing family over Harry Potter. It would have been amazing to see his take on the Wizarding World, but I absolutely get why he didn’t go there.
Steven Spielberg could have directed the first Harry Potter movie
Spielberg was a success before he turned down Harry Potter and has had a ton of success after. Let’s be honest, the Harry Potter franchise would have benefitted more from him than he would have benefitted from it.
It’s fun to think about what Spielberg’s involvement would have meant for the franchise overall. Would he have just directed the first movie or committed to all of them? And if he had, what movies wouldn’t have existed because he didn’t have the time to make them?
Perhaps he’ll consider being a part of the inevitable reboot…
Next. Hogwarts Legacy proves Harry Potter doesn’t need J.K. Rowling to succeed. dark
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