Chris Columbus Wants to Adapt Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Movies

In an interview with Variety for the 20th anniversary of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, director Chris Columbus expressed interest in directing a movie adaptation of the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. He also discussed topics ranging from his favorite scene in Sorcerer’s Stone to J.K. Rowling’s transphobia. Columbus had this to say when asked if he thought there might be more Potter films in the future: “I would love to direct The Cursed Child. It’s a great play and the kids are actually the right age to play those roles. It’s a small fantasy of mine.” 

I like Columbus as a director, and he directed two of my favorite Harry Potter films. After Chamber of Secrets, the series lost a sense of fun that it didn’t regain until Half-Blood Prince before promptly ditching it again for Deathly Hallows parts 1 and 2. I know The Prisoner of Azkaban is one of the more highly regarded films in the franchise, but I will never understand why. Brilliant casting choices can’t mask a lack of understanding for the best book in the series and that freeze-frame ending; that’s not how you end a movie. All that being said, though, I think Columbus’ desire to adapt Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is misguided. I can see how it would be tempting given Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint are the correct ages. And there are still fans out there who would clamor for any additional Potter films, even after the raging dumpster fire that is the Fantastic Beasts series. The diminishing box office returns and troubled productions of that series are a factor that should be considered in the planning of any more Potter spin-offs. Even aside from that, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child isn’t good enough to bother adapting. 

I’m not a big reader, but I read all of the main Potter books and side journals like The Tales of Beedle the Bard and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. When I got my sister (a huge Harry Potter fan at the time) a copy of Cursed Child, I read it as soon as she was done. I’m aware that it’s a play and not intended to be read in the way the other books are. However, we’ve been reading plays in this manner in school our whole lives, so I don’t take it as an excuse. The characters’ personalities are all off to the point that they’re unrecognizable as the same people. I remember thinking the dialogue was stilted, and events didn’t seem to come about naturally as well. For me, though, the characters are an absolute deal-breaker. I’ve had the same problem with the Avatar: The Last Airbender comics and other spin-offs. Regardless, I don’t think we should shell out for more Harry Potter content. Jo needs to see a therapist about her irrational hatred of trans people, not push out more ill-advised, unnecessary side material. I’m sure she would use it as an opportunity to turn Hagrid into a sassy black woman while continuing her bizarre, obsessive diatribe.