Harry Potter remains one of the biggest touchstones in entertainment. Books, films, merch, theme parks and more are all dedicated to the adoration of the magical world of mystery. It almost seems like anything new in the Harry Potter universe is set for success which is why it’s odd that we’ve not yet seen the extended cut of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
As reported by TheWrap (via ScreenRant), there is actually a three-hour cut of the very first Harry Potter film sitting somewhere unreleased. The director of the original film, Chris Columbus, sat down with TheWrap for an interview and spoke about the effort involved in getting The Philosopher’s Stone out and the relief when it was a massive hit.
Here is the trailer for the upcoming Hogwart's Legacy...
Colombus remembers that they previewed the three-hour version of the film in Chicago. He says: “We knew that the film worked because we did a couple of previews. 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.”
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I mean a three-hour runtime is pretty long for any film, but it is interesting that kids thought that length wasn’t enough. The final film’s release came out to 152 minutes, which is pretty long as is. So what was cut from the original three hours? Well, it seems a fun side character suffered the most. When the interviewer remarks that they’d love to see the three-hour version, Columbus responds: “I would too. We have to put Peeves back in the movie who was cut from the movie!”
There are so many people who’d love to see that extended version of the film I’m sure. Like I said, anything Harry Potter seems to be a massive success. Let’s hope that extends to the upcoming launch of Hogwart’s Legacy too.
Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros.Topics: Harry Potter, Warner Bros