Harry Potter (film series) was that the principal cast be kept strictly British, allowing nevertheless for the inclusion of many Irish actors, such as Richard Harris as Dumbledore, and for casting of French and Eastern European actors in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" where characters from the book are specified as such. Rowling was hesitant to sell the rights because she "didn't want to give them control over the rest of the story" by selling the rights to the characters, which would have enabled Warner Bros. to make non-author-written sequels. Although Steven Spielberg initially negotiated to direct the first film, he declined
Harry Potter (film series) film series that followed "Harry Potter"s suit. Furthermore, the practice of splitting the finale of a film series into two back-to-back films began with the success of "Deathly Hallows", and it would soon be replicated by "" and "", "" and "", "" and "", and "" and its sequel "". The films are also widely credited with singlehandedly signalling the popularity of films based on children's and young adult literature in the 2000s and 2010s, correlating with the book series' own literary influence. Costance Grady and Aja Romano, commenting on the whole "Harry Potter" franchise's legacy for "Vox" in