Chris Columbus slams plan to remake ‘Harry Potter’

Director Chris Columbus, who introduced fans to what JK Rowling’s wizarding world would look like on the big screen, that there is “no point” in remaking or rebooting the Harry Potter films, reports Collider.

Columbus directed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the first two movies in the series, which has since emerged as one of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time.

It was Columbus who helped cast Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint as teenage wizard Harry and his best friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. The actors would go on to play the trio in eight films over a decade. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone celebrates its 20th anniversary this month.

Asked if he thinks the films will ever be remade, and if they even should be remade, Columbus said in an interview with journalist Jake Hamilton: “I can’t answer the first… I don’t know. In this version of Hollywood that we live in, everybody is remaking everything, and rebooting everything. I mean, there’s a Home Alone reboot coming out. What’s the point? The movie exists, let’s just live with the movie that existed. There’s no point in us remaking The Wizard of Oz, there’s no point in any of us remaking the classic films. Make something original, because we need more original material. So, no point.”

The director’s comments also seemed to suggest that he isn’t fully on board with the idea of a Home Alone reboot, which is just around the corner. He helmed the now-iconic original children’s film, which starred Macaulay Culkin as a kid who gets left behind at home as his family goes on vacation to Europe over Christmas.

Columbus is a bit of a franchise man; after directing two Harry Potter films, he made the first movie in the Percy Jackson series, and then the second one in The Christmas Chronicles franchise on Netflix. He said that he originally intended to direct every Harry Potter movie, but dropped out after two because of their time-consuming nature. He admitted that he would’ve liked to return to direct the final installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, as it is his favorite book of the series.