Harry Potter film director labels JK Rowling views ‘very sad’ as he weighs in on debate ahead of TV series: ‘I don’t agree’
The filmmaker who brought Harry Potter to the big screen has declined any involvement in HBO’s forthcoming television adaptation whilst expressing disapproval of JK Rowling’s transgender stance.
Chris Columbus, 66, directed the initial two instalments of the wizarding franchise but firmly rejected participation in the new series.
“No, I’ve done it, you saw my version. There’s nothing left for me to do in the world of Potter,” he told Variety.
The director, whose credits include Home Alone and Mrs Doubtfire, departed the original film series after experiencing burnout and wanting more family time.
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His refusal comes alongside pointed criticism of Rowling, who serves as executive producer on the HBO project scheduled for 2027.
Mr Columbus expressed particular dismay about the author’s controversial positions on transgender issues, describing them as deeply unfortunate.
“I like to sometimes separate the artist from the art, I think that’s important to do,” the filmmaker told the publication.
“It’s unfortunate, what’s happened. I certainly don’t agree with what she’s talking about. But it’s just sad, it’s very sad.”
His remarks represent a notable rebuke from someone instrumental in establishing the cinematic world of Harry Potter.
The director’s comments align him with the franchise’s lead actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint, who have all publicly opposed Mrs Rowling’s views on transgender rights.
The author has faced sustained criticism for her positions, including her support for excluding transgender women from legal definitions of womanhood under equality legislation.
Mrs Rowling’s transgender commentary has created deep rifts within the Harry Potter universe since 2019, when she backed Maya Forstater, dismissed from her position for asserting transgender individuals cannot alter their biological sex.
The author established the J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund in May, supporting efforts to preserve “women’s sex-based rights in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces.”
She has celebrated UK Supreme Court decisions that exclude transgender women from legal recognition as women under equality legislation.
The controversy prompted San Francisco bookshops to remove Harry Potter titles from their shelves in protest.
Rowling suggested she would not forgive the film trilogy’s stars even if they offered apologies, telling them to “save their apologies” after they voiced support for transgender rights following her 2020 essay labelling transgender identity as “deeply misogynistic and regressive.”
Despite his criticism of Rowling and refusal to participate, Columbus endorsed the television adaptation’s potential to explore storylines omitted from the films.
“The great thing about it is that with the first and second and third book, we wanted to do it all. We wanted to bring all of that onto the screen, and we didn’t have the opportunity,” he explained to Variety.
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The HBO series will feature eight episodes in its first season, with each subsequent season adapting one of Rowling’s seven novels.
Casting announcements revealed Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley, selected from over 30,000 auditions.
HBO confirmed Rowling has been “very very involved” to ensure a “faithful adaptation” of her books.