Steven Spielberg almost directed the first Harry Potter film .
He was offered the project and he accepted it. He worked on the film for almost six months, developing the script with Steve Kloves (who would end up being the screenwriter for almost every film in the saga).
However, Spielberg will not succeed in imposing his vision on JK Rowling and the Warner studio.
His first idea was to make a film from several books, combining the plots. JK Rowling disagreed, and Warner even less so, because it meant less revenue.
Then Spielberg wanted to make a cartoon, which JK Rowling didn’t like.
And finally, since a cartoon wasn’t possible, Spielberg wanted Haley Joel Osment in the role of Harry Potter, which pleased no one…
In the end, feeling that JK Rowling did not like the directions he wanted to take, Spielberg preferred to withdraw from the project.