Harry Potter Director: Due to the conflict between J.K. Rowling and the film’s actors, a sequel will “never” be made
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, Chris Columbus, the director of the first two Harry Potter films, said in an interview with The Times that because of the disputes between J.K. Rowling and some of the franchise’s actors over transgender issues, another sequel can “never” be made.
Columbus had previously said he was interested in directing a film adaptation of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, but now he says such a film will “never” happen.
Regarding the public criticism of Rowling by Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe, he said: “With all that, things have become very complicated politically. All the actors have opinions that differ from Rowling’s, and that makes it impossible.”
Columbus said he has not spoken with Rowling for nearly a decade: “I don’t know what the problem is.” However, he added that he maintains a close relationship with Radcliffe and the other actors: “I have a very good relationship with all the kids in the cast.”
In recent years, Rowling has openly questioned the womanhood of transgender people and has been accused of “transphobia.” In early April last year, on the social network X, after the release of a UK government report that, in her view, confirmed her belief in the illegitimacy of transgender rights, she said that Harry Potter actors should apologize to the victims of sexual abuse by transgender people: “The self-congratulatory celebrities of a movement intent on dismantling women’s hard-won rights, and those who use their positions to support the transitioning of minors, can keep their apologies for the detransitioned, traumatized individuals and the vulnerable women who depend on single-sex spaces.”
Daniel Radcliffe responded to Rowling’s post in an interview with The Atlantic, saying: “Ultimately, it really makes me very sad. Because I look at the person I met, met several times, and the books she’s written and the world she created, and all of that feels deeply empathetic to me.”
Watson wrote: “To my trans followers, I want you to know that I and so many people around you see you, respect you, and love you for who you are.”
Columbus had earlier told Variety that at times he wants to separate the art from the artist: “What happened is unfortunate. Undoubtedly I don’t agree with what she says. But it is upsetting, very upsetting.”
