Chris Columbus tells how it was to direct the first installment of Harry Potter and also confesses that he wanted to participate in the last installments.
In recent weeks the Harry Potter franchise has been talked about everywhere. Since Johnny Depp’s firing from the Fantastic Animals and Where to Find Them prequel, many have taken to social media to ask for explanations. Now it seems that Warner Bros has already found his replacement and the recordings can continue as normal. And although the production of the prequels has been marked by controversy, it did not affect the original saga. For his part, director Chris Columbus tells how it was to direct the first two installments and how he would have liked to return to the franchise.
Chris Columbus is currently promoting his new Netflix movie The Christmas Chronicles 2. He also recently talked about the Solo en Casa reboot. But during an interview with the Collider medium, he had time to talk about his time in Harry Potter. Columbus was in charge of directing the first two installments of the saga. Now he says that he would have liked to return to direct the two installments of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to end the saga.
“I always wanted to go back and direct the last two installments. But [David] Yates decided that he was going to stay with the saga. And it was an incredible decision. For my part, I love the last movie. I think it was a brilliant movie. The second part of the Deathly Hallows ”.
And despite wanting to return to the franchise, Chris Columbus says it was not easy for him. The director had to carry the burden of being the first to bring the book series to the big screen. The Harry Potter books were already extremely popular before the adaptations. For which the expectations were high and any failure could cost him his job.
“The reality is that the pressure of the world was on our shoulders. And to be more specific about mine, because I knew that if I did it wrong it was all over. You cannot carry this book. So I had to go to the set every day with tunnel vision in a way that made me not think about the outside world. And that was much easier 19 years ago before the Internet was the way it is now ”.
The director says that with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets he was able to relax more and enjoy the experience. But during the first movie he was on alert and every day he came to the set thinking he was going to be fired. After the first two installments, Chris Columbus passed the baton to director Alfonso Cuarón and the rest is history.
“During the first movie, I was full of anxiety. For the first two weeks, every day I was sure that I would be fired. Everything seemed fine, but I thought that if I did something wrong if I screwed it up, I would fire. It was very intense. But don’t let anyone on set notice, there wasn’t that kind of frustration. I’m not a yelling person and I got along with everyone. I wanted everyone to feel part of the family so I hide that part of my emotions ”.
