Though his work on the record-breaking franchise ended with Prisoner of Azkaban, where he served as producer, filmmaker Chris Columbus has expressed an interest in directing a new Harry Potter film set after the events of the Deathly Hallows.
With Warner Bros. plotting course for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, many has assumed that Columbus would want in on the studio’s potential trilogy, but in an interview with Entertainment Weekly Radio, the director noted that it’s Harry, Ron and Hermione who remain the most interesting characters for him personally, and how he wants to spin out a story directly after the fall of Voldemort.
“I would love to go back and do another one. Not Fantastic Beasts as much, which I think is going to be amazing, but I would love to do another movie with those three characters — Harry, Hermione, and Ron. I’m just fascinated about what happened to them after the end of the last movie, because then they cut to 18 years ahead. There’s 18 years there of great Harry Potter stories.”
Putting aside the fact that Death Hallows – Part 2 actually picks up 19 years after the Dark Lord has been defeated, it’s an interesting area that Columbus has pinpointed. By the time the final installment in the series arrives at the epilogue, we see the core trio of Harry, Ron and Hermione as parents seeing off their children on Platform 9 3/4 as they board the Hogwarts Express. Without a Death Eater to be seen, the wizarding world of Harry Potter exists in a state of peace, and any new entry in the series would surely need to be greenlit by J.K. Rowling herself.
It’s a fact that Columbus acknowledges, too, with the Pixels director admitting that he is yet to approach the author – though the nascent idea remains a possibility.
“I don’t have the courage to actually mention that to her because I have such respect for her,” says Columbus. “She should do what she wants to do, but I really would love to know what’s in her head about those missing years.”
What do you think, though? Does Chris Columbus’ idea for a new entry into the core Harry Potter series pique your interest? Let us know below.
