For a while, it looked as though the Harry Potter franchise would be following a similar template to that of Mission: Impossible, by drafting in a succession of visually and stylistically different filmmakers to put their own stamp on the material and prevent any semblance of stagnancy setting in.
Chris Columbus helmed the first two and got much of the heavy world-building out of the way, before Alfonso Cuarón and Mike Newell tackled one apiece. However, once David Yates was tasked to oversee Order of the Phoenix, it became his baby from then on out.
In fact, when you factor in the five planned Fantastic Beasts spinoffs provided Yates doesn’t direct anything in between, then The Legend of Tarzan will be the only non-Wizarding World blockbuster he’s called the shots on since 2007, a run that’s set to encompass ten movies should the prequels make it to the finishing line.
In a recent interview with Jake’s Takes, Columbus revealed that he originally planned to direct the entire series before other commitments got in the way, but he rues not getting his hands on The Deathly Hallows.
“I thought I was going to stay for all seven initially. Each film was 160 days back to back, so basically after 320 days of shooting I could barely form a sentence, so I knew I had to produce Azkaban. So while I was producing Azkaban I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll do the fourth,’ but then at that point, the kids wanted to their family in Chicago and go to school. And so I thought, ‘I’ll probably return for something later on down the line.’ It never happened but I do wish I had- probably Deathly Hallows. But that’s my favorite of the series and I think David Yates did a perfect job, so you didn’t need me.”
The first two chapters of the Harry Potter saga are regarded by many fans as the weakest, and no offense to Columbus, but the franchise would have turned out markedly different had he stuck around for the long haul.