‘Harry Potter’ movie director regrets deleting Harry/Hermione scene

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone marks 25 years since its release, but director Chris Columbus still regrets cutting two major elements from the movie.

Back in 2001, Columbus set out to bring J.K. Rowling’s book series to the big screen with a hefty $125 million investment (about $230 million today).

The film went on to become a global hit, grossing over $1 billion at the box office and launching a massive eight-movie franchise.

Now, HBO is betting on a decade-long Harry Potter TV reboot to keep the magic alive.

Despite the immense success, Columbus admitted in an interview with RadioTimes that he still has lingering regrets about the first film.

“I’m not involved at all and I wish them great success,” Columbus said of HBO’s adaptation. “I think the best part of the series is the fact it’s 10 hours for the first book, which we didn’t have the opportunity to do. I’m a little envious.”

The director explained that while films are limited in scope, even with a runtime of over two and a half hours, he struggled to include everything.

“It still keeps me up at night sometimes,” Columbus confessed. “I missed the fact that I was never able to put Peeves in the first film.”

He also recalled a scene from Philosopher’s Stone where “Hermione and Harry are tasting potions in one of the challenges, and one of them could die at any moment.”

“It’s like this incredible chess match that we just did not have time to shoot,” Columbus said. “So hopefully those scenes will be reinstated. They have 10 hours. I hope they use them well.

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