Daniel Radcliffe has shared what he considers one of the worst film ideas ever pitched to him, and it involved reuniting the original Harry Potter trio in a very unexpected remake.
Speaking as the latest guest on Hot Ones, Radcliffe revealed that during the height of the Harry Potter franchise, executives once floated the idea of remaking The Wizard of Oz with him, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint in the lead roles.
“One of the worst ideas I’ve ever heard, during Potter, somebody came to us and I think asked, like they wanted to cast all three of us, me, Emma and Rupert, in a remake of Wizard of Oz, where Emma was Dorothy,” Radcliffe said.
He added that he could not recall which character Grint was meant to play, but his own role was unforgettable.
“I was like a karate kicking cowardly lion,” he said, explaining that the Lion would also inexplicably know martial arts.
Looking back, Radcliffe said he instantly sensed it was a misfire.
“And I remember I was like 14 or 15 and I was like, ‘I don’t know a lot about the world, but this is a bad idea and it should not be made.’”
The project never moved forward, and the trio ultimately never reunited for another feature film outside the Harry Potter universe.
Radcliffe, Watson and Grint appeared together in eight Harry Potter films released between 2001 and 2011, a run that defined all three of their early careers.
Their only on-screen reunion since then came in the television special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts, which streamed in January 2022.
For Radcliffe, the abandoned Oz remake remains a memorable example of an idea that, even at a young age, he knew should never see the light of day.
