Chris Columbus found immense international success when he made the first two Harry Potter films. Following Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, Columbus returned to produce Prisoner of Azkaban. After that, he was not involved in any of the Daniel Radcliffe projects. Nevertheless, the fascination of the filmmaker with the media franchise convinced him to devise a unique plan for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
At the time of its release, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was the lengthiest novel in the Harry Potter series. Initially, the makers were a little confused regarding its live-action adaptation to the big screen. Interestingly, Chris Columbus advised the producer David Heyman to split the adaptation into two parts to make it more interesting.
Was Chris Columbus’ idea regarding Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire good?
Writer J.K. Rowling has written 7 books in the Harry Potter series. But only the last book Deathly Hallows was split into two live-action adaptations. When director Chris Columbus chatted with The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, he shared that we could have also received a two-part adaptation of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
The Potterheads can easily spot many differences between the books and the movies. It is not something unnatural considering the contrasts between the two mediums and is also evident in other works like Game of Thrones. Nonetheless, many fans agree that the Goblet of Fire‘s story feels very rushed due to the makers’ attempt to compress a lot of material in a limited timeframe.
Chris Columbus, who was initially interested in returning to the franchise with this film, shared that he advised David Heyman to split the movie into two halves. Unfortunately, Warner Bros. showed no interest in the idea, and when they finally implemented a two-movie project with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Columbus could not return to helm it. The Mrs. Doubtfire director said:
At the time, the studio wasn’t interested in doing it. It didn’t seem like that was a possibility. Well, obviously they ended up doing it for [films] seven and eight. But I was naive. I thought, ‘Oh, I have energy to do all seven of these movies.’ But that wasn’t the case.
On the other hand, the producer David Heyman and writer Steve Kolves also suggested that it would have been a better idea to split the film. Such a decision could have helped the story to breathe more and we could get more time to enjoy certain storylines. Multiple fans believed that we should have gotten more Quidditch from the World Cup scenes instead of the Yule Ball.
The Quidditch World Cup scenes were very interesting in the book and could have given us an entertaining scene. On the other hand, by directing the movies in halves, the filmmakers could also give a dramatic and suspenseful cliffhanger to Part 1 like Avengers: Infinity War. A thrilling scene featuring Harry’s scar itching while we see a faint silhouette of Pettigrew holding Voldemort could have given us goosebumps.
Sadly, what we got to see was a rushed story featuring numerous changes from the novels. As director Mike Newell figured out a way to compress the epic tale to a limited frame, we even witnessed a toned-down version of the third task between Harry and Cedric Diggory. Besides that, some significant characters were also absent from the film.
Chris Columbus is interested in returning for a Cursed Child film
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is a play written by Jack Thorne, based on an original story by Rowling and set 19 years after the events of Deathly Hallows. Despite numerous rumors, we still don’t know anything about a film adaptation of the play. Chris Columbus has also stated his interest in such a potential project.
Originally, Chris Columbus could never return to the realm of Harry Potter to spend more time with his family. Nonetheless, the director stated that he would love to work on a Cursed Child film adaptation with Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint if he gets a chance. He added that such an opportunity would be blissful for the fans to get the OG cast back after so long.
A version of Cursed Child with Dan, Rupert and Emma at the right age, it’s cinematic bliss. If you’re a film nerd or cinephile, it’s kind of like what J.J. [Abrams] did with Star Wars. Star Wars really started to be great again when J.J. made the film and we had all the original cast back.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child received critical acclaim and placed Harry and Draco’s sons in the center who are best friends in this tale. But it does not look like the studio is interested in working on a live-action adaptation. Although it will be an incredible situation for the Potterheads if we get such news, it is highly unlikely to happen. Instead, the makers are working on a small-screen reboot of the Harry Potter series.
All the Harry Potter films can be streamed on Max.
