The Wizarding World franchise should be one of the jewels in Warner Brothers’ crown. However, the Fantastic Beasts spin-off series has been suffering from diminishing returns, both critically and financially. The Secrets of Dumbledore has suffered from The Crimes of Grindelwald’s negative reception because its opening box-office has been disappointing.
The Wizarding World franchise, particularly the Harry Potter series still has fans. It’s a franchise many people have grown up with and enjoyed. J. K. Rowling did create an imaginative and rich world that audiences have invested in. I even wrote a list of potential spin-offs that the franchise could make.
The Wizarding World has suffered from creative stagnation. David Yates has directed seven films in a row for the franchise and it shows because the last two Fantastic Beasts films have lacked any invention.
The franchise needs some fresh blood to help give the Wizarding World a creative spark, so here are ten directors who could achieve that.
J. A. Bayona
Kicking off this list is a director I have long admired, J. A. Bayona. Bayona is a Spanish filmmaker who made a splash with his debut film The Orphanage and he has continued to from there. He has impressed with his films The Impossible and A Monster Call and has worked on the TV series Penny Dreadful.
Bayona showed he’s well versed in emotional storytelling and special effects filmmaking. He has atmospheric ghost stories, gothic horror, drama, and a big-budget action film, all useful experience for the Wizarding World. With The Impossible he made a personal story about a family trying to find each other after the 2004 Tsunami and showed the impact the disaster had on Thailand. A Monster Call was a wonderful tragedy about a boy dealing with his mother’s sickness by interacting with a monster.
Even with his weakest film, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Bayona was still able to make some tense and breathtaking sequences. Bayona could make a great film within the Wizarding World if given a good screenplay.
Guillermo del Toro
Guillermo del Toro would be a dream choice for many Harry Potter fans. He was even approached to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. He rejected the offer and he admits he regrets his decision.
Del Toro is a director who needs little introduction. He won an Oscar for Best Director for The Shape of Water, and his films Pan’s Labyrinth and Nightmare Alley were nominated for Oscars. He’s a director who has managed to have mainstream success and artistic integrity and he has shown he can handle many genres, like action, fantasy, fairy tales, horror, drama, and gothic romance. Del Toro could use all this experience for The Wizarding World.
Del Toro has shown he can make films about underground fantasy worlds. Blade II, Pan’s Labyrinth, and the Hellboy movies are great examples of this. So, del Toro can make a Wizarding World film.
The issue with del Toro is he’s a director who would demand a lot of creative freedom. However, a solution could be del Toro being allowed to make a spin-off set in the Wizarding World, so that it wouldn’t affect the main series.
Rose Glass
Rose Glass is a director whose star is on the rise. She made a name for herself with her directional debut Saint Maud, a horror film about a hospice nurse becoming obsessed with her patient. It was a character-driven film which had a great performance from Morfydd Clark, and it was a great examination of isolation and loneliness. Glass earned a lot of praise for her work and she won the BIFA for her Best Debut Director. Glass has partnered with A24 for her second feature and has cast Kristen Stewart in one of the lead roles.
The trend in Hollywood has been to recruit young indie directors, so Glass would just be following suit. She could give the Wizarding World a fresh, new perspective.
Tom Harper
Tom Harper is a prolific TV director who has made some features films, His work includes the BBC’s adaptation of War & Peace, Wild Rose, and The Aeronauts. He made some lavish productions and worked with top actors. His work on The Aeronauts acted as a great example showcase for what Harper could achieve with a blockbuster-style film.
The Aeronauts had a thin story, but it had great costumes and special effects, features that could be used in a Wizarding World film. It was a film that had some exciting sequences as the main two characters had to deal with the challenges and hazards of going higher into the atmosphere.
In my review of The Aeronauts I wrote it was a good calling card to make a film within the Wizarding World or Pirates of the Caribbean franchises. Harper would need a stronger screenplay to show what he’s truly capable of.
Paul King
The Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts films were produced by Heyday Films. Besides the Wizarding World franchise they have made films like The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Gravity, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The company’s other big franchise is the Paddington films, and that franchise’s director would be a good fit for the Wizarding World.
Paul King was one of the driving forces behind the Paddington films. He was able to make two sweet, touching family films that were funny and creative films. He gave those films a visual spark, like using models to show the Brown’s house, moments of cutaway humour, and small touches like images of an animated tree growing.
The first Paddington film was made as a celebration of London, and Paddington 2 aimed to have a timeless quality. This could work well with the Wizarding World since Harry Potter was a celebration of Britain, and within the Wizarding World technological advances are a lot slower.
King’s Paddington films have been influential on other family films. Sonic the Hedgehog and Clifford the Big Red Dog have attempted to be emotionally sincere family films.
Travis KnightÂ
Travis Knight was one of the co-founders of the animation studio, Laika. He has also already revitalised one major franchise, Transformers. Laika has become known as one of the most creative animation studios in America. Knight’s directional debut, Kubo and the Two Strings was my favourite film from the studio. It was a Japanese-influenced fantasy film where a young boy had to go on a quest to find a suit of armour so he can defeat a vengeful spirit.
Knight moved to live-action filmmaking with ease when he made Bumblebee. Bumblebee was a prequel/reboot to the Transformers film series and Knight made it the film for people who hated the Michael Bay Transformers films. He made it a simple yet touching story about a teenage girl and her robotic car. It was a humorous coming-of-age story and a fun sci-fi actioner. Knight took away the worst aspects of the Bay films whilst still respecting the original film series by having references to it.
Knight could do something similar with the Wizarding World by giving the franchise some new life whilst still respecting the original films.
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are a directing duo known as The Daniels. They have developed a reputation for making bizarre, surreal films. Their first film was Swiss Army Man, which is probably known as the film with a farting corpse.
The main reason this pair have been selected for this list is their work on their latest film. Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most acclaimed films of 2022. At the time of writing, it has a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a really impressive 8.9 on IMDB. Even our own Zack Walsh gave the film a perfect score.
Everything Everywhere All at Once is not just a critically acclaimed film, it is a sci-fi film that’s set across the multiverse. Many actors played multiple versions of their characters. It was a film known for its bright and surreal visuals and the Wizarding World which does need something to help it stand out again.
David Lowery
David Lowery is a director who has shown he can make indie and mainstream films. His filmography includes Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, the remake of Pete’s Dragon, and The Green Knight. He is currently working on Peter Pan & Wendy for Disney+. This would make him a good fit for the Harry Potter franchise.
His previous work shows he has a good knowledge of fantasy. Pete’s Dragon was a modern fantasy where a young boy befriended a dragon and the impact it has on a small community, whilst The Green Knight was an art-house retelling of Arthurian legends.
Lowery is known for having a slow and thoughtful style of filmmaking, so it would be a different approach for the Wizarding World franchise.
Tomm Moore
Tomm Moore was one of the co-founders of Cartoon Saloon, Ireland’s premier animation studio. He has directed three films known as The Irish Folklore Trilogy. All three films were critically acclaimed and were nominated for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award. Wolfwalkers was a film I gave a perfect score to.
As the title suggests The Irish Folkore Trilogy was based on Irish Folklores and Mythology. This would make Moore a good fit for the Wizarding World, particularly Harry Potter since J. K. Rowling was influenced by British and Irish folklore, as well as Greco-Roman mythology.
Moore is from an animation background but there have been many directors who have jumped from animation to live-action filmmaking. He has a wonderful visual style that would translate well to the Harry Potter universe. Plus, he can give the franchise the emotional weight, character development, and creativity it needs.
Even if Moore doesn’t make a film, Warner and HBO should commission Cartoon Saloon to make an animated series or specials set in the Wizarding World.
CĂ©line Sciamma
Céline Sciamma is an acclaimed writer/director from France. Many of her films have been critical darlings and performed well at major festivals and César Awards. Sciamma is known for making dramas, like Tomboy, Girlhood, and Portrait of a Lady, all female-centric films.
The main reason why Sciamma would be an interesting candidate to direct a Wizarding World film was her work on Petite Maman. Petite Maman was one of my favourite films of 2021: it was a sweet film with a magical realist twist. It was a coming-of-age time travel story about a young girl meeting her mother when she was a child.
Sciamma’s abilities as a filmmaker are not in question but making a big-budget studio film would be a change for her. The other issue would be if Sciamma even be interested. It would be a bold statement from Warner Brothers if they approach a filmmaker like Sciamma.
