Christopher Columbus wants 3 hour director’s cut of ‘Harry Potter’ released

As the twentieth anniversary of ‘Harry Potter’ is celebrated, director Christopher Columbus says he wants to release a three-hour director’s cut of the film.

The cut would also see the inclusion of the late Rik Mayall who played mischeavious poltergeist Peeves in several scenes which were taken out of the final cut of the film.

Speaking to The Wrap, Columbus said: “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.”

However, producers later cut almost 30 minutes from the film, which came in at 2 hours and 32 minutes in the end.

Columbus says he’d put Mayall’s scenes back in the film. “We have to put Peeves back in the movie, who was cut from the movie,” he told the publication.

Mayall died in 2014, aged 56, from a heart attack.

Yesterday (November 16), it was revealed that the original cast of the film are re-uniting for a one-off, HBO Max special.

‘Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts’ will premiere on HBO Max on New Year’s Day.

The programme will “tell an enchanting making-of story through all-new, in-depth interviews and cast conversations,” according to a statement from HBO Max.