Original Harry Potter director Chris Columbus doesnt want to be involved in HBO series reboot

Chris Columbus isn’t going back to Hogwarts.The filmmaker, who directed the first two “Harry Potter” movies and produced the third, shut down the possibility that he’s going to be involved in HBO’s upcoming TV adaptation of the franchise.“No, I’ve done it, you saw my version,” he said in an interview with Variety published Monday.“There’s nothing left for me to do in the world of Potter,” added Columbus, 66.But the director did admit he’s envious that the “Harry Potter” TV show can flesh out more details from the books than the films did.“The great thing about it is that with the first and second and third book, we wanted to do it all,” he explained.“We wanted to bring all of that onto the screen, and we didn’t have the opportunity.”Columbus noted the character Peeves from the first novel “never made it into the film — we just didn’t have time to develop the character.” The same goes for a storyline involving Harry and Hermione worried about being poisoned after drinking potions.“We could never get that incredible scene into the film, and I’m sure it’ll be in the HBO series,” Columbus said.

“So for me, it’s an opportunity to bring all those scenes to life.” The filmmaker also said he experienced “deja vu” seeing the on-set photos of the actors playing Harry Potter and Hagrid filming the show in London last week.“Because it was exactly where we were 20 years ago!” he said of the scene, which takes place in the first novel and movie.“We had to shoot it on a Sunday with Dan (Radcliffe) and Martin Bayfield, who stood in for Robbie Coltrane.”Later in the interview, Columbus addressed “Harry Potter” author J.K.

Rowling’s anti-trans views that have caused controversy for the new series.“I like to sometimes separate the artist from the art, I think that’s important to do,” he told Variety.“It’s unfortunate, what’s happened.”“I certainly don’t agree with what she’s talking...