The Harry Potter films are pretty great. The directors who took them on did a good job adapting some of the most popular books of all time, and the result is a set of movies with as much nostalgia and staying power as the novels. But one thing could have seemingly made them even better, and that would have been Steven Spielberg taking one on.
Back before the first Harry Potter book was adapted to film, Warner Bros. was looking for the perfect director to kick off the franchise. Naturally, Spielberg came to mind, as he is famous for bringing big adventurous stories to the screen and captivating audiences of all ages. But he ended up turning the opportunity down. In a recent awards season interview promoting his recent semi-autobiographical film, The Fabelmans, Spielberg talked about the pass on the Harry Potter franchise, saying:
“There were several films I chose not to make. They offered me Harry Potter. I chose to turn down the first ‘Harry Potter’ to basically spend that next year and a half with my family, my young kids growing up. So I’d sacrificed a great franchise, which I’m very happy today looking back I’m very happy to have done, to be with my family. Other times my family stayed in Los Angeles and I went abroad to tell a story.”
Spielberg met his wife, Kate Capshaw, while directing her in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. They went on to marry in 1991, and along with her two children and his child with Amy Irving, they welcomed four more. When Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone came out in 2001, one of the couple’s kids was grown, one was15, and another was 12. Their other kids were 10, 8, 4, and 4. Now I can see why he passed! Harry Potter would have been a huge commitment, in another country, and he had some little ones at home who needed him.
Instead, at the time, he made some great one-shot films close to home in Los Angeles like A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Minority Report, and Catch Me If You Can. Those are all some of my favorite Spielberg films. So it all worked out for the best.
via: CimenaBlend
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