10. Steven Spielberg Almost Directed Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
The original Harry Potter flick,
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, received lukewarm reviews upon its first release, and that's mostly down to Chris Columbus' flat and relatively uninspired direction. That said, the film remains a relatively enjoyable adaptation, and has thankfully held up over the course of time (some insist it's still the "best-realised" Potter movie). But given Columbus' associations as a kind of lesser-Spielberg, it might come to nobody's surprise that the true master was originally in line to direct J.K. Rowling's novel back in the late '90s.
What It Have Been Any Good? Better, arguably, given Spielberg's association with creating quality children's films. What's somewhat odd, though, is that the director wanted to make Harry Potter as an animated film instead of a live-action one (with Haley Joel Osment voicing Harry Potter), a decision we can't help but feel wouldn't have been right for the movie. Ultimately, then, we might be better off just being thankful for the relatively "magical" version we got.