British director Terry Gilliam was J.K. Rowling's original pick to direct the first Harry Potter movie in 2000.

While publicizing his new movie, The Brothers Grimm, Gilliam said in an interview recently, "I was the perfect guy to do Harry Potter. I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian."

On his contemporaries in film directing, Gilliam also said, "I saw 'War of the Worlds' and I thought, Steven Spielberg is a man who makes brilliant scenes but can't make a movie anymore."

(info from Page Six of the New York Post, thanks to Salon.com.)

Published August 29, 2005