Having just passed the twenty-year milestone of the Philosopher’s Stone (or ‘Sorcerer‘ depending on your Muggle address), we’re getting a lot of Harry Potter chat swooping online like a pre-Christmas owl-post depot. So following on from the news that the film series’ main trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were reuniting for an HBO Max special, director of the first two Wizarding World adaptations, Chris Columbus, has said that he’d like to see his original 3-hour cut of the film released, including the oft-discussed Peeves the Poltergeist scenes.
Speaking to The Wrap, Columbus, who helmed 2001’s Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone and 2002’s Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets said that they’d tested a 3-hour cut of the film, which included the late Rik Mayall’s scenes as Peeves, a pesky poltergeist who haunts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but Warner Bros. went ahead with the 2 hours and 32 minutes theatrical version.
“We knew that the film worked because we did a couple of previews,” Columbus said. “Particularly a Chicago preview where our first cut was a three-hour cut. Parents afterwards said it was too long, the kids said it was too short. I thought, well, the kids presumably have a shorter attention span so this is a good thing.”
When The Wrap effused about how they would love to see the extended cut of the film, Columbus agreed saying “I would too. We have to put Peeves back in the movie, who was cut from the movie!”
It’s not like Warner Bros. haven’t given in to demands before, with the much ballyhooed Justice League re-edit debuting on HBO Max following a fervent fan campaign, so let us know whether you’d like to see the Chris Columbus’ cut of Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone by heading to our social channels @FlickeringMyth…
