Steven Spielberg says he was ‘happy’ to turn down Harry Potter director

Steven Spielberg clarified the rumors of being invited to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001), based on the homonymous books by J.K. Rowling, at the beginning of the career. The acclaimed director, nominated for multiple Oscars this year for The Fabelmans (2022), told in an interview with SS Rajamouli(via Variety), who, although he turned down the proposal, does not regret the decision.

There were a number of films that I chose not to do. I chose to turn down the first ‘Harry Potter’ to basically spend the next year and a half with my family, my kids growing up. So I sacrificed a huge franchise, which I look back on now and I’m really glad I did, to be with my family.

Still in the interview with Rajamouli, Spielberg discussed the conflict between dedicating himself to the film industry and raising a family, and, in the filmmaker’s view, “taking a job that would take me to another country for four or five months, where I wouldn’t see my family every day would have been a sad experience.”

Later, the wizarding movie saga fell into the lap of Chris Columbus. Harry Potter has seven books of the original story adapted into eight films and is currently adapting the films derived from Fantastic Beasts.