Chris Columbus chose to direct Harry Potter rather than Spider-Man, and he has no regrets about that decision. Columbus began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-80's, penning scripts for popular films like Gremlins and The Goonies before trying his hand at directing with 1987's Adventures in Babysitting. He quickly moved on to more prominent films, and by the turn of the century had already directed classics like Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire.
As he was coming off 1999's Bicentennial Man, which saw him reteam with Robin Williams, Chris Columbus was faced with a massive choice. He was offered the chance to direct either Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone or Spider-Man, which would eventually end up going to Sam Raimi and release in 2002, one year after Sorcerer's Stone. He chose Harry Potter, going on to direct the sequel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the following year as well.
Speaking with Screen Rant, Columbus explained how the Harry Potter offer had come in a day earlier and some thought he was "crazy" for passing on Spider-Man. He admits that the Marvel film was "probably something I was waiting my entire life to do." However, he's "happy about" his ultimate decision. Read the full quote here:
Yeah... I probably heard the day before I got the Spider-Man offer that I got Harry Potter. And whoever it was, was like, "Is he crazy? How could he pass up Spider-Man?" and part of me felt that way, because it's probably something I was waiting my entire life to do. But I'm glad I decided to go with Potter. I'm happy about that.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone would go on to be the #1 film of 2001. However, Spider-Man swooped into the top slot the following year, leaving Chamber of Secrets in the dust at #3, with Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones sandwiched between them. However, in terms of box office, the Potter franchise would continue to dominate, making it the third most profitable movie franchise of all time (as compared with Spider-Man at the #10 slot). Chris Columbus only directed the first two Harry Potter films, leaving the franchise after that (though he would later direct two films in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, which have a certain thematic similarity with the Potter films).
However, Columbus' decision to opt for that franchise was meaningful in multiple ways. First is the obvious, that being a part of the #3 film franchise is always a smart financial decision. The second is that the decisions he made in that first Harry Potter film have a lasting legacy across a long series of films that Spider-Man couldn't compete with, considering how often it reboots its continuity. The decisions that Columbus made, from creating the careers of future stars like Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe to hiring John Williams to compose his now-iconic score for the film, were ones that influenced the franchise - and the culture - for years and now decades to come.
