Spielberg Ponders Potter

Hollywood's eyebrows were collectively raised when Steven Spielberg turned down the chance to direct the Harry Potter movie. He's since explained his decision, saying that he felt it wasn't a challenge for him, but in this week's Telegraph magazine, the director holds out new hope for Harry fans who had hoped Spielberg would take on the franchise. 'That first story didn't touch me creatively,' Steven explains; 'Now the third Harry Potter book... It's pure genius! Much darker, more esoteric and interesting to me personally. If they'd offered me that, I'd have said yes.' So we might still see a Harry Potter movie directed by Spielberg? 'That's right,' he says, 'You never know.' Touching on other projects he has in the pipeline, Spielberg talks briefly about Memoirs of a Geisha, 'that needs to be at the right time. It's an incredibly delicate story. I can't just say "OK, that's the next hamburger I need to make." I have to get my head around it first.'