Chris Columbus played a key role in the creation of the Harry Potter film franchise: he directed The Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets, and also produced Prisoner of Azkaban — films that are arguably the best in the series, according to many fans.
The franchise is currently undergoing a rebirth with a new series from HBOwhich is already started filming the first season. Some shots, In particular, with Harry and Hagridare slowly appearing online, and with them we have the reaction of Columbus itself — and it is not exactly satisfactory. On The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, the director of the original films says he is “confused” by the remake and is not sure “if it makes sense.”
“I’ve seen these photos. He [Nick Frost] is wearing the same costume we designed for Hagrid. Some part of me thought: ‘What’s the point? I thought it would be different, but it’s the same. Everything will be the same.”
At the same time, Columbus noted that he is flattered by the attention to their team’s work, so “another part of him” thinks it could be “really exciting.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with it. In part, it’s a kind of déjà vu.”
In a separate interview with The Standard, Columbus said that he had recently met Nick Frost and was frank with him about the role:
“I said: “This is very surreal for me — you have to understand, Robbie Coltrane and I were so close.” So it’s just weird, it’s bizarre.”
Earlier, the director also reacted to the “transgender views” of Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, calling them “very sad.” The star of The Last of Us, Pedro Pascal, was a bit more harsh and even called for a “boycott” of the HBO series because of its involvement with the writer
“The great thing about this is that with the first, second, and third books, we wanted to do all of this. We wanted to bring it all to the screen, but we didn’t have that opportunity,” Columbus told Variety before watching the first footage. “So for me, [the series] is an opportunity to bring all those scenes to life.”
Columbus is currently promoting its new movie “Thursday Night Murder Club” about a group of retired detectives led by Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren. Starting August 28, the movie will be available for viewing on Netflix.
As for HBO’s Harry Potter series, we expect the first season to premiere in 2027.
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