20 years ago the first part of the successful "Harry Potter" film series was released. For his birthday, director Chris Columbus (63) remembers, among other things, the shooting of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", in which the young leading actors Daniel Radcliffe (32), Rupert Grint (33) and Emma Watson (31) still had a lot to learn.
At the time, Columbus expected "that I would probably be fired within the first two weeks," he says in an interview with the industry magazine "Variety". Since the books were already very successful, he was aware "that I may never work again if I screw up".
After speaking to author J.K. Rowling, 56, Columbus was initially relieved that she shared his vision for the film. For him it was a moment of "pure exhilaration", but then he panicked. The director knew he had to deliver a work that satisfied both himself and the fans.
That's why there were so many cuts
According to Columbus, the many cuts in the first part of the series are due to the inexperience of its main actors. As a result, Watson, Grint and Radcliffe, who were just children at the time, quickly lost concentration. In addition, the three were so excited in the first few weeks that they grinned at the camera the whole time. The Quidditch scene was particularly difficult to shoot because a lot of the work was done in front of the green screen. With "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" the trio was already "very professional".
Columbus last saw his own film the day it was released in the UK. "I was in London at the time and we were already shooting 'The Chamber of Secrets'. I saw the entire film and haven't since," says the 63-year-old. But when the first film is on TV, he keeps watching individual scenes. He is "very proud" of the production and it is a "nice feeling" that people are still watching the first "Harry Potter".
Another Potter movie?
After all these years, there seems to be at least a possibility that other material from the Potter world will come to the big screen alongside the "Fantastic Beasts" series. Because he would love to adapt "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" as a director. "It's a great play and the kids are actually the right age to play these roles. It's one of my little fantasies." The play takes place 19 years after the end of the last book.SpotOnNews
