Warner Bros. chairman talks “Potter” films, fans, and more in new interview

Businessweek.com recently spoke with Warner Bros. chairman, Barry Meyer, about the Harry Potter series. He talks about his studio’s 10-year, 8-movie, $7 billion run.

On first agreeing to take on the project, Meyer admits:

“Making a big movie about a British schoolboy didn’t seem like a slam-dunk.”

On the spacing of the films:

“We decided to set a pace that had never really been done with a multiple-movie franchise. Jo Rowling had only written a few of the books at that point. We didn’t know if the cast would stay together but we wanted to make it possible for the kids to be in all the movies. You can’t rush it; with each book, the kids get a year older. But you also can’t make Harry Potter when Daniel Radcliffe is 35 years old.”

On the fans:

“When you do this kind of movie, you’re always sensitive to the fan base. Everyone has their own vision of Hogwarts until we present it on film, so it had better be good. We got thousands of letters in the first movie because we made a mistake about where we put the scar on Harry’s head. With Harry Potter, you can get the audience. The key is to deliver.”