Date: 26th June 2017

Guillermo del Toro Regrets Turning Down Directing Harry Potter.


Guillermo del Toro shares his regret in not helming a Harry Potter film despite it being offered to him.

The acclaimed director has an impressive filmography with standouts like The Devil’s Backbone, Pan’s Labyrinth, Blade II, Hellboy and its sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army, as well as, Pacific Rim. And it would have been great to see his take on one of the Harry Potter installments.

Speaking during a 90-minute masterclass at the animation-themed Annecy Festival covered by IndieWire, del Toro opened up about his storied career as a filmmaker even touched on the subject of carefully picking out the projects that he wants to do. He said that he “had the most incredible opportunities to say no to big movies.” But when asked, however, as regard to any films he regrets turning down he shared that he has a few and Harry Potter is one of them.

Del Toro did not go into specifics which one from the eight films in the franchise he was offered to do. However, at one point there were reports of him possibly doing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The gig eventually went to his pal Alfonso Cuaron, and has become one of the most visually stunning and well-made installments from the film series.

One has to wonder what kind of treatment del Toro would have given a Harry Potter narrative had he directed any of the films. Given his ability to cleverly tell a story infused with some horror and dark fantasy pieces, his style would have been great in the latter chapters of the franchise as the story set in the wizarding world becomes darker with the stakes getting higher.

Source: Press Release