TS: Chris Columbus had made the Home Alone films, so as well as having this global box office ranking as a director, he had a proven ability for working with children.ĭH: I suppose Chris Columbus was the most conservative choice from the studio's point of view. At the end of one, Spielberg showed me a picture of Haley Joel Osment and said: "You know, this is a really interesting young actor … " NP: There were lots of discussions about directors – Alan Parker, Terry Gilliam, Steven Spielberg.ĭH: When Steve delivered his script, Spielberg read it and we had two long meetings. TS: Steve Kloves wrote the screenplay, and Jo said the minute she met him she knew Harry would be in safe hands. We asked Richard Curtis to write the screenplay, and he said he would do it if Mike directed they had worked together on Four Weddings and a Funeral. NP: No one around London will admit that they read the book and passed on it, but I know through the grapevine that quite a few other big companies didn't see in the book what we saw.ĭH: One of the first people we asked to direct it was Mike Newell, who ended up doing the fourth film. I knew its appeal might reach more than just children.
For me, Jo's book was an adventure, but it was also about character and emotion and the power of love. Family entertainment was not at the centre of film culture in the way it is now. TS: It was not a sure thing by any means. Warner Bros were not immediately enthusiastic. David asked what it was called and I told him: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.ĭH: I said: "I'm not sure about the title." But I read it and fell in love the world Jo had created was so rich. I came in raving about it on Monday morning. It was brilliant – a huge, original story which felt so visual and filmic. NP: I read the first Harry Potter at home on a Saturday morning. There was a slight gloom in the air about that.ĭH: Each Friday, we'd decide what everyone would read over the weekend. Nisha Parti, production consultant, HP1: We'd been running the company for a while and hadn't found the big thing Warner Bros was hoping for. I rang Christopher Little, Jo Rowling's agent, to introduce myself and win him over if I could.ĭavid Heyman, producer, HP 1-8: When the proof copy of the first book came in, it sat for a few weeks on my bottom shelf – low priority. It said it was going to be one in a series – so that's a franchise. I remember a friend of mine, Tony Garnett, who produced Kes, saying to me: "Listen, this deal will only last if you find Warners the equivalent of the Bond franchise." I read an article on a book that was due to be published, about a boy who discovers he's a wizard. We had a deal with Warner Bros to be the eyes and ears of the studio in the UK. Tanya Seghatchian, co-producer/executive producer, Harry Potter 1-4: I started working with David Heyman at Heyday Films in 1997.
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