Director Chris Columbus has ruled out any chance of Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reuniting as their characters in the future, due to the “political stuff” dividing them from franchise creator JK Rowling.
Columbus had previously expressed interest in reuniting with the Harry Potter trio for a big screen version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the hit West End and Broadway stage show that acts as a canonical eighth Harry Potter story.
Set 19 years after the final Harry Potter book, it features an adult Harry, Ron and Hermione — around the same age that Radcliffe, Grint and Watson are now. However, despite previously hoping the original cast might return for a movie adaptation, Columbus has admitted the idea was now “never going to happen.”
“It’s never going to happen,” Columbus told The Times. “It’s gotten so complicated with all the political stuff. Everyone in the cast has their own opinion, which is different from her opinion, which makes it impossible.
“I haven’t spoken to [JK] Rowling in a decade or so,” he continued, “so I have no idea what’s going on with her, but I keep very close contact with Daniel Radcliffe and I just spoke to him a few days ago. I still have a great relationship with all the kids in the cast.”
Recent years have seen Rowling become one of the most prominent figures in the discourse over transgender issues, with her widely-criticised views causing a schism between her and some within the Harry Potter movies’ cast.
Radcliffe, Grint and Watson have all previously distanced themselves from Rowling’s opinions and spoken out in support of transgender rights, while new cast members for HBO’s Harry Potter TV series such as Nick Frost and Paapa Essiedu have joined the project while simultaneously saying they disagree with Rowling’s views.
The vast majority of the original Harry Potter cast, including Radcliffe, Grint and Watson, all returned for the 20th anniversary Return to Hogwarts documentary in 2022, though Rowling notably only appeared in archival footage.
Since then, Warner Bros. has been mounting plans for its ambitious Harry Potter HBO TV series reboot, which has now begun filming and will be in production for most of the next decade. This morning, Harry Potter movie star Warwick Davis was announced as the first cast member to reprise his role from the big screen.
As for Harry Potter and The Cursed Child, no plans for a movie adaptation are now believed to be in the works, despite it continuing to run globally in theatres on the West End, Broadway, in Hamburg and in Tokyo.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
