Steven Spielberg Walked Away From Harry Potter To Make an Underrated Masterpiece

Published Jun 28, 2026, 4:56 PM EDT

Steven Spielberg Was Supposed to Direct 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'

When J.K. Rowling's wildly popular Harry Potter book series was sold to Warner Bros., one name made more sense than any other as the one to bring Hogwarts and the wizarding world to life on the big screen. Many times over his career, Steven Spielberg had used phenomenal effects to make the impossible possible. He also had a long history of working with kids and getting the best out of them. WB hit the jackpot when Spielberg agreed to make the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but then, in February 2000, the director dropped out, saying in his statement, "My directorial interests are taking me in another direction."

Chris Columbus, the Home Alone director, ended up directing the movie instead. Under the guidance of Columbus, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone made over a billion dollars at the worldwide box office. But what was the other direction Spielberg was being pulled in?

Stanley Kubrick Had Been Developing 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence' for Decades

During a June 2026 interview with Turner Classic Movies, ahead of the release of Disclosure Day, Spielberg delved more into Harry Potter and why he left.

"I actually walked away from Harry Potter, which I was scheduled to direct as my next movie. The cast, some of the older actors, I had made casting suggestions. But I gave it up. It was going to be a huge movie because the book was already a runaway cultural phenomenon as a book."

What caused Spielberg to walk away was Stanley Kubrick, who had died in March 1999, with his last film, Eyes Wide Shut, releasing after his death. Kubrick was the directing genius behind Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, and Full Metal Jacket. For years, he'd also been working on developing a movie based on Brian Aldiss' short story, "Supertoys Last All Summer Long."

When Spielberg attended the funeral for his dear friend, he spoke with Kubrick’s widow, Christiane Kubrick, and film producer Jan Harlan.

"There was no script and after his death, then I was at the funeral, at his home in Saint Albans. Christiane and Jan Harlan approached me about taking over from Stanley and, as Stanley intended, directing the movie."

'A.I. Artificial Intelligence' Is Steven Spielberg's Most Underrated Movie

Steven Spielberg ended up writing the script for Aldiss' story under the title A.I. Artificial Intelligence. The movie starred Haley Joel Osment, who was coming off the monster success of The Sixth Sense, as David, a 22nd-century robot designed to provide emotional love. He becomes a son of sorts to the Swinton family, whose son lives in a coma. However, when their child miraculously awakens, David is no longer needed and is sent out into a world he doesn't understand with a talking, robotic teddy bear named Teddy (Jack Angel). In 1999, Spielberg told The New York Times that Kubrick wanted to make the movie because, "There was something in there about the little boy's inability to please his mother that touched Stanley's heart."

On his quest to become a real boy, David meets another robot, Gigolo Joe (Jude Law), who is designed to provide physical love. Along the way, David discovers more about who he truly is. A.I. Artificial Intelligence came out on June 29, 2001, and was a success, making $235 million worldwide, but just $78 million came from domestic receipts. That was a far cry from Spielberg's previous movie, Saving Private Ryan. Critics were kind but not overjoyed, with the movie sitting at 76% on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence is one of Spielberg's rare forgotten movies. It came out and disappeared by 9/11, a few months later, and was lost in the director's filmography. It's seldom in the best of lists for Spielberg, but it should be. Spielberg was perfect for the project. He got audiences to weep over an alien in E.T., so he could certainly get emotion from a robotic main character. He also brought his deep knowledge of special effects and how to create the world in which the movie exists. With heartbreaking themes about the need to be loved and be real, along with a Spielberg-esque happy yet heartbreaking ending, despite the dark subject matter, A.I. Artificial Intelligence was the most rewarding challenge. It was better for the director to honor his late friend and make his final dream come true than to sign up for someone else's already told story, where his vision would have been restrained.