Chris Columbus, the director of the first two Harry Potter films, recently opened up about the idea behind the upcoming TV series, describing it as “spectacular.” The show, based on the books authored by J. K. Rowling will reportedly premiere on HBO and Max in 2026. The producers are yet to share updates regarding the official casting of the series.

Chris Columbus says Harry Potter series can show all ‘great scenes’ cut from movies

The director of the first part, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, and the second one, Chamber of Secrets, Chris Columbus recently shared how he feels about the Harry Potter TV series.

Columbus attended the premiere of Robert Eggers’ horror movie Nosferatu in Los Angeles where he had a chat with PEOPLE. When asked about the new Harry Potter show, the director said he was in favor of the idea.

“I think it’s a spectacular idea, because there’s a certain restriction when you’re making a film,” he said. “Our film was two hours and 40 minutes, and the second one was almost as long.”

Columbus further added that the makers have the liberty to include more details from the books in series that may not have been possible in movies. “The fact that they have the leisure of [multiple] episodes for each book, I think that’s fantastic,” the 66-year-old shared. “You can get all the stuff in the series that we didn’t have an opportunity to do … all these great scenes that we just couldn’t put in the films.” Columbus also said that he “looks forward to seeing what they’re trying to do with it.”