Chris Columbus Wants To Release His Three-Hour #PeevesCut Of Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone
Have director's cuts gone too far? Do we really need multiple version of every movie? Does anyone actually want to see the pound sign Peeves cut of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone?" I mean, clearly yes because TheWrap wrote an entire article about it and #ReleaseThePeevesCut is a thing on Twitter, but someone has to ask the tough questions.
I mean, I'm all for directors flexing their artistic vision and creating something special for the super fans, the people who will eat up anything that even references their IP of choice, but sometimes there's a reason your favorite side character gets cut from an adaptation. It just seems like "Harry Potter" fans have been so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
If you read that paragraph and you have no idea what I'm talking about (and for some reason you really want to know more), let me fill you in. TheWrap recently interviewed "Harry Potter" director Chris Columbus about the original three-hour cut of the first "Harry Potter" movie and Columbus did not hold back. The three-hour cut isn't a secret, Columbus has spoken about it in interviews before and it was even screened for test audiences before the film's wide release, but this time Columbus seemed especially animated about the topic, saying he would love to see that longer cut released and added, "We have to put Peeves back in the movie, who was cut from the movie!"
#ReleaseThePeevesCut
Peeves, the mischievous poltergeist of Hogwarts, is basically a demonic snitch who enjoys bullying everyone in the school through the magic of ghost powers. He's a fun character with a mean streak and he does add to the anything could happen atmosphere of Hogwarts, but he's not especially plot relevant, which is probably why he wasn't included in the final theatrical version. Although actor Rik Mayall played Peeves in the three-hour version of the first film, he was subsequently cut completely and no version of the film released since has included any of his scenes.
Naturally, Columbus's call to bring back the Peeves cut has had more than a few fans riled up, but Warner Bros. has been awfully quiet about the whole thing. At the end of the day we have to ask ourselves, is seeing Mayall play Peeves — for what is probably collectively five minutes — really worth giving J.K. Rowling, who truly can't seem to stop making transphobic comments, more money? Reading the books you already own is free. Watching clips of Mayall's comedic roles on YouTube is also probably free. Imagining what it would be like in your mind is definitely free. Put it all together, and you have the "Harry Potter" cut of your dreams.