Harry Potteris TikTok famous.
Its probably the emotional highlight of the film, Columbus tells Bustle.
Im very proud of that one.
Longevity was always Columbus goal.
By the turn of the millennium, his work already included instant classics likeHome AloneandMrs.
Doubtfire,and he fully intended for his adaptation of J.K. Rowlings 1997 book to garner similar acclaim.
That Gen Z-dominated TikTok has embraced the decades-old movie proves Columbus succeeded.
And Columbus sees them, too.
Its kinda hard not to go there!
Lets start at the beginning.
Oh God, all of it.
Whats that gonna look like?
They were just so excited about that.
And that was basically the biggest challenge, because I wanted to treat it like a real sporting event.
Although it worked beautifully on the page, I didnt understand all the rules.
And that sort of became the catalyst for how we were gonna build the set.
There was such specificity about how tall each of the rings were …
I was really happy with the way it turned out.
Although I would like to go back and revisit the visual effects, to be honest with you.
I think we could do a better job today.
Definitely the first movie!
A good friend of mine is a guitarist from the E Street Band, Steven Van Zandt.
Lets go back and remix it.
And Bruce said, Are you crazy?
People have been listening to that this way for 30 years.
So part of that advice kind of sticks with me about quidditch.
Why really hurt someones memories of it just to satisfy my own technological nerdiness?
The casting was perfect.
How did you feel when they wereconsidering recasting the actors a few movies later?
Well, the kids were never a question.
The kids were cast from the beginning and it was never even brought up to me personally.
People were replaced because, unfortunately, Richard Harris passed away, thats why Dumbledore was replaced.
I hired a voice actor to play Voldemort [inThe Sorcerers Stone].
So thats exactly why Ralph was cast.
Was there anything else that you weren’t allowed to know, or knew before everyone else?
We laid the ground for seven films.
I didnt knowHarry Potterneeded to be influenced by anybody but I guessHarry Potterdid.
So I did that.
Probably my first and only TikTok.
What was it like filming that scene?
It was one of the scenes where we built everything physically all of those pieces, the room.
So when the kids got to that set, they saw those things for the first time.
Ron was actually on the knight, on the horse, moving forward.
There were explosions happening.
There were some CGI effects but very little.
I think that scene works so well because the kids performances are so strong in that scene.
At that point in filming, they were really becoming very, very good actors.
He said, Well what do you expect, its chess.
Those pieces dont move that quickly.
Theyre made out of stone.
Im proud of it because its probably the emotional highlight of the film.
Do you recall which scenes in particular made them extra giddy or took longer?
They were raising their broomsticks and they were all so happy to be there.
They were giddy with delight.
By the time we reached the middle of the second movie, we were able to forgo three cameras.
We could actually shoot an entire sequence where they were walking and talking and not have to cut away.
I dont really have any comment on that.
But I got no comment on that.
Whats the secret to making a good family movie?
Filmmakers tend to have an idea of what family movies should be.
As a parent myself, I want the experience of watching the films with my own children.
For me, we make the films for the parents and the adults as well.
That was the mantra I had for the crew onHome Alonethat extended over toHarry Potter.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
This article was originally published onNovember 15, 2021
