'Harry Potter' director gets honest about new TV show

As the new TV show on Harry Potter is in the works, Chris Columbus, best known for directing the first two Harry Potter movies, has seemingly steered clear of it.

In an explicit manner, he, in an interview with Variety, said he is not involved with the production, “No, I’ve done it, you saw my version. There’s nothing left for me to do in the world of Potter.”

The filmmaker also weighed in on the anti-trans views of the author J.K. Rowling. “I like to sometimes separate the artist from the art, I think that’s important to do,” he said.

“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," the director added.

Though the forthcoming series is billed as a “faithful adaptation” of fantasy novels, Chris admitted that the original movies did not fully adapt the books.

He explained, "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," adding, "A TV show provides an opportunity to bring all those scenes to life.”

In the meantime, the main casting of the film has been announced, Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger, and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley.

Apart from the trio, Lox Pratt as Draco Malfoy, John Lithgow as Dumbledore, Janet McTeer as Minerva McGonagall, Paapa Essiedu as Severus Snape, and Nick Frost as Rubeus Hagrid. Katherine Parkinson, Johnny Flynn, Leo Earley, Alessia Leoni, and Sienna Moosah.

It's unclear when exactly Harry Potter will come out, but the makers are eyeing a release date in 2027.