Harry Potter director Chris Columbus has recently revealed that despite the film's success, there is still one key detail he wishes he could change. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (based on the wildly successful book series by J.K. Rowling) was released in November of 2001 and turned the popular book series into a worldwide phenomenon. Since then, the series has gone on to become one of the most successful franchises ever, with tie-in books, a spinoff movie series, a play currently on Broadway and the West End, and even a theme park.
Back in the late 90s when Columbus signed on to direct the first film, he only had the books to work from, and the job of visually creating the Harry Potter world fell on his shoulders. Columbus has since stated that Harry Potter was quite daunting at the time, as he knew that millions of fans of the book series would be scrutinizing every decision he made. Columbus directed the first two installments in the franchise and has stated that he ultimately remains pleased with the choices that were made when first designing the world of Harry Potter.
However, during an interview with Polygon on the occasion of the film's 20th anniversary, Columbus revealed that there was still one detail in the film that he would change if he could. According to Columbus, the design of Harry's famous scar was very difficult to get right and the director still isn't sure if they ever did. Columbus has stated that at the time of filming the first Potter movie, productions were not allowed to apply prosthetics to actors under the age of 16, which meant that simpler makeup techniques were utilized. Columbus maintains that due to this, the scar never looked as real as it did in his imagination,and if he could, he would love to go back and tweak that detail. See his full quote below:
Harry’s scar was so incredibly difficult to get right. I don’t know if we ever really did to be honest with you. But we struggled with that for months. When you’re working with kids under 16, or something, you can’t really use prosthetics, or you couldn’t back then. We couldn’t really utilize a prosthetic scar, which is kind of what I saw, like a real scar. That’s the one detail, an important detail, that I wish I could go back and tweak.
Despite this, Columbus remains pleased overall with how the film turned out. He has noted that designing the first film was particularly difficult, as only the first four books had been released at the time, so he had to rely on hints from Rowling as to where the story would go in the future. Harry's scar design notwithstanding, Columbus has expressed how pleased he is with how the look of his first two films transitions so seamlessly into future directors' Harry Potter installments in the franchise.
No matter how Columbus feels about the look of Harry's scar, there is no denying that it is now considered an iconic image by anyone who has ever come in contact with the Harry Potter franchise. Fans will forever bicker about which installment in the series is the best, but no matter the opinion, there is no denying that without Columbus's first entry the entire series would likely look and feel very different. Columbus had a massive hand in creating the world of Harry Potter that fans know and love today, and perhaps an underwhelming scar design is a small price to pay for that success.
Source: Polygon