One OG Plan For Adapting Harry Potter Would Have Ruined The Franchise

At this point, more than two decades after the first Harry Potter movie hit theaters, it's hard to imagine the movies being anything but the memorable films we know and love today. Still, each of the book-to-screen adaptations that were made to bring J.K. Rowling's magical story to life was the result of countless decisions. It's with that in mind that I’m trying to wrap my head around the idea of a Harry Potter movie that – instead of adapting one book – combines the plots of two or three of the books for one big movie.

Apparently that was an idea being tossed around before director Chris Columbus was brought on board. I was revisiting the bonus features on the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone DVD set (the one released in 2002), and one of them features Chris Columbus talking about the adaptation, including a story he heard when he was first in talks to helm the Philosopher's Stone adaptation:

I'm trying to imagine a movie that combines the events of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Chamber of Secrets and maybe even Prisoner of Azkaban, and it kind of makes me want to cry. The movies already had to trim down or omit elements that couldn't fit into a reasonable runtime for a film. (Book readers remember you, Peeves!). Imagine three years of Harry's life condensed into a series of memorable moments that's somehow trying to form into the shape of something resembling the plot Rowling had mapped out.

Considering The Timeline

So why would this even be a plan tossed around at all? Well, I've been thinking about that, and when we factor in certain things, it's not impossible to understand why anyone might consider a mashed together Harry Potter story as a good option. Let's grab a time-turner for a moment and consider:

• Chris Columbus recalls hearing this story when he was being interviewed. He was brought on board to direct Sorcerer's Stone around March 2000 (per Screen Daily).
• The first three Harry Potter books had been released prior to 2000. Goblet of Fire hit shelves in July 2000.
• The books were already a hit in the UK and were really starting to build what would become full-on mega-popularity globally.
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone arrived in theaters in 2001.

I'm mentioning those things because, while Harry Potter was already a pretty big deal by the time the first movie was in development, it was still the dawn of the Potter phenomenon. Only three books had been released at that point, so the series wasn't even halfway completed. From a story perspective, it had only just begun to scratch the surface of what it would become.

The Story Was Just Beginning To Take Flight

From my own perspective, I remember reading Prisoner of Azkaban and realizing that this story was becoming so much more than the adventures of a boy wizard attending magic school; that Rowling was building out a much bigger, more complex history and path forward, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. This is one of those great book series that wouldn't just get better with each book, but it would also manage to deliver a fantastic conclusion -- but that was years off.

One Other Point To Consider

There's one other thing I think is fair to consider, which is to appreciate the foresight involved in going big with the Harry Potter adaptations rather than condensing the books. After all, what precedent was there to suggest that a modern-day children's book series could lead to the kind of massive franchise success that Harry Potter had and has continued to have (eight movies and a spinoff trilogy, numerous editions of the books released, theme park attractions, a West End and Broadway production, the upcoming TV show, etc)? Even the most popular books and properties have their limits. Well, most of them do — Harry Potter just seems to be one of the ones that hasn't met its.

As much as it pains me to consider it, I can envision something like what Columbus described actually being made if it was the easier route for a director, and/or if the goal was to capitalize on the rise in popularity that the books were having at the time. I also agree it would've destroyed the series.

I can't see how they'd be able to set up the events that were to come. I imagine this proposed version of the adaptation as one of those event films a lot of us would've gone to see but then didn't think about much (or flat-out tried to forget) soon after. I'm obviously grateful things worked out as they did.