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Chris Columbus, director of the first two Harry Potter films, Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, sends his best wishes to HBO’s upcoming series. Though not involved, he fully supports the team.
Television has the advantage of time, allowing the series to explore the wizarding world in ways the films never could. In a more recent interview with RadioTimes, Columbus stated that he’s “a little envious” of the first-book season, which can extend up to ten hours, giving the story room to breathe and allowing those book-only moments to finally shine outside the pages. This means scenes Columbus had to cut from his films will finally reach fans.
Columbus reflects on HBO’s Harry Potter
Chris Columbus is the man who first brought Harry Potter from the pages to the screen, directing Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) and Chamber of Secrets (2002), turning them into international blockbusters. Columbus is known for his light-hearted, family-friendly classics like Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire, and gave the Harry Potter world its tone of warmth and imagination, besides helping the young cast get comfortable with their careers early on.
In the interview with RadioTimes, Chris Columbus shared:
“I’m not involved at all and I wish them great success….I think the best part of the series is the fact it's 10 hours for the first book, which we didn't have the opportunity to do. I’m a little envious. There was so much we couldn't put in the films – they weren’t short, they were over two and a half hours long, but I still struggled. It still keeps me up at night sometimes.”
The scenes Columbus wanted to include in the Harry Potter films
Top on Columbus’s wish list was Peeves the Poltergeist. Anyone familiar with the books will recognize Peeves as Hogwarts’ resident prankster, equal parts trouble, laughter, and jovial school spirit. Although the character was intended to appear in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and the late actor Rik Mayall was filmed in Peeves’ role, Columbus had to cut the scene in the final release.
Chris Columbus regretfully said,
“I missed the fact that I was never able to put Peeves in the first film.”
Columbus also lists the riddle of the potions in the book—the arduous logic puzzle that stood between the trio and their access to the final rooms in Sorcerer’s Stone—as one of the scenes that never made it to the big screen. Hermione leads Harry and Ron and correctly solves the puzzle by choosing the right potion to get through. However, with Quidditch, trolls, flying keys, and the giant chess game already in the movie, something had to be traded off, and sadly, it was the riddle scene.
“Plus, there is a scene in the first book, Philosopher’s Stone, where Hermione and Harry are tasting potions in one of the challenges, and one of them could die at any moment,”
Finally, Columbus speaks of the climactic chess scene in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, where Harry, Hermione, and Ron must play a life-sized magical chess game to reach the last chamber protecting the Sorcerer’s Stone. In the book, the scenario is richly detailed; however, in the 2001 film, it was dramatically simplified. Columbus expresses to RT:
“It's like this incredible chess match that we just did not have time to shoot. So hopefully those scenes will be reinstated. They have 10 hours. I hope they use them well.”
Harry Potter universe finally recieves the gift of time
Chris Columbus is genuinely thrilled that HBO’s series can now devote an entire season—about ten hours—to a single book. Hogwarts life, classroom scenes, and key character moments no longer need to be rushed, allowing the magic to unfold naturally. Short snippets add depth without altering the main story. Minor common-room moments, extra lessons, and small hints that pay off later can now appear naturally across episodes.
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