In the early 2000s, Steven Spielberg was more interested in raising his family than directing children's films.
Oscar winner admits he refused to direct the "Harry Potter" franchise because he wanted to be with his own kids.
"There were several films I chose not to do," Spielberg said while talking with "RRR" director S.S. Rajamouli in India (via Insider). "I chose to decline the first 'Harry Potter," and I decided to spend the next year and a half with my family and my young children."
"I sacrificed a fantastic franchise — which I'm very grateful to have done today — to be with my family. The decision I made in transferring to another country for four months where I wouldn't see my family every day was," said the writer-director of "Fabelmans."
Chris Columbus of "Home Alone" directed "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," and also directed the 2002 sequel "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets."
In 2012, Spielberg said his kids thought he was "crazy" to decline "Harry Potter," especially since the filmmaker of "E.T." knew the film franchise would be a smash hit.
Spielberg told "BBC Breakfast" (via Digital Spy) that he developed it for about five or six months with [Harry Potter] screenwriter Steve Kloves, and then I quit. "My kids thought I was nuts, and the books were popular at the time," he said.
“But, you know, I don’t make movies because they’re gonna be phenomena. I make films because they have to touch me in a way that really commits me to a year, two years, three years of work.”
Instead, Spielberg has recently mused that he wish he could direct the Emmy-winning HBO limited series "Mare of Easttown," if only he had Harry's magic wand.
"I mean, if someone would have brought me 'Mare of Easttown,' I would have done that, according to Spielberg. "I do have an appetite for longform, and someday, I will direct a long-form series."