Karwai Tang/WireImage; Victoria Jones/Shutterstock Chris Columbus says aHarry Potterreunion with the original cast is "impossible" due to J.K. Rowling's identity politics. "Everyone in the cast has their own opinion," the filmmaker said. Rowling's anti-transgender views have caused widespread controversy and elicited pro-trans statements fromHarry Potterstars like Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson. Harry Potterfans shouldn't get their hopes up for aCursed Childmovie. Chris Columbus, who directed the first twoPottermovies in the early 2000s, said that although he previouslyexpressed interestin adapting the hit play set in the Wizarding World, he sees no chance of that materializing with the original cast due toJ.K. Rowling's controversial views. "It's never going to happen," Columbus told U.K. outletThe Times. "It's gotten so complicated with all the political stuff. Everyone in the cast has their own opinion, which is different from her opinion, which makes it impossible." Representatives for Rowling did not immediately respond toEntertainment Weekly's request for comment. Columbus also noted that he currently has no relationship with the author, but maintains friendly contact with the actor behind the Boy Who Lived and his costars. "I haven't spoken to Miss Rowling in a decade or so, so I have no idea what's going on with her, but I keep very close contact withDaniel Radcliffe, and I just spoke to him a few days ago," Columbus said. "I still have a great relationship with all the kids in the cast." Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage Rowling hasrepeatedlydescribedherselfas aTERF, or trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The author has routinely postedanti-trans rhetoric, stating that she'd"happily do two years"in prison rather than support policies protecting transgender people from hate crimes, andpublicly celebratinga U.K. Supreme Court decision that ruled thatwomanhood is legally defined by biological sex. Rowling's comments have placed her at odds with many of the actors who starred in thePotterfilms, including Radcliffe, whopenned a statementsupporting the trans community shortly after the author's views generated controversy. "It makes me really sad, ultimately," Radcliffe latersaidof Rowling's position. "I do look at the person that I met, the times that we met, and the books that she wrote, and the world that she created, and all of that is, to me, so deeply empathic." Emma Watson, who played Hermione Granger in all eight films in the original series, shared asimilar statementsupporting the trans community around the same time as Radcliffe. Luke Walker/Getty Rowling latersuggested that she would not forgiveRadcliffe and Watson for their positions because they "cosied up to a movement intent on eroding women's hard-won rights." Radcliffe previously said that hewasn't interestedin returning to the world of Harry Potter withThe Cursed Childor anything else for the foreseeable future. "I'm getting to a point where I feel like I made it out ofPotterokay and I'm really happy with where I am now, and to go back would be such a massive change to my life," he said in 2022. "I'm never going to say never, but theStar Warsguys had like 30, 40 years before they went back." Want more movie news? Sign up forEntertainment Weekly'sfree newsletterto get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. But theHarry Potterfranchise lives on. ATV rebootwith an all-new cast is on its way, and HBO CEOCasey BloyssaidRowling is "fairly involved" with the production. However, he noted that the author's anti-trans positions have not notably influenced the series. "It hasn't affected the casting or hiring of writers or production staff or anything, so we haven't felt any impact from that." Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly