'We had to make movies as smart as her books and as smart as her,' Steve Kloves says of J.K. Rowling.
By Eric Ditzian
Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1"
Photo: Warner Bros.
Steve Kloves, who penned the scripts for seven of the eight "Harry Potter" films, rarely gives interviews. He has popped up at just one red-carpet premiere for the boy-wizard franchise. He's a guy, in other words, who likes to stay in the background. But he'll take responsibility for one thing: If fans hate "Deathly Hallows," it's all his fault.
"If people like a 'Harry Potter' movie, it's because of the book," he told the Los Angeles Times. "But if they don't like it, then it's my fault."
That might be overstating the case just a bit, though Kloves certainly has his fair share of haters within the "Potter" fan community. But there's a reason Warner Bros. turned to him again and again to adapt J.K. Rowling's novels for the big screen: one heck of a track record. His "Potter" screenplays (all but 2007's "Order of the Phoenix") have provided the backbone for $4.7 billion in worldwide box-office receipts and counting.
Yet the self-deprecating scribe gives much of the credit to Rowling, with whom he's struck up a deep creative friendship. "The single greatest thing I take from the experience of the past 10 years is becoming friends with Jo," Kloves said. "That's a separate thing from all of this now, separate from 'Potter,' and it's become a very important part of my life. I used to say she's the coolest chick on the face of the planet. You read that first book and you thought, 'Angela Lansbury wrote this book,' then you meet her and she knows all of your music references and she's funny. The first thing you pick up sitting down with her though is the intelligence. We had to make movies as smart as her books and as smart as her."
Leave it to others in the "Potter" brain trust to argue that Kloves bears as much responsibility for the franchise's success as anyone. "I think it's a really terrific partnership of two really fabulous writers," "Deathly Hallows" director David Yates said. "There is also a kind of delicacy and poignancy that he finds in some moments. He's a real observer of small human touches."
It's Harry Potter Week at MTV News! Join us Monday night at 6 p.m. ET on MTV.com as we live-stream from the red-carpet premiere of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1" and talk with all the "Potter" stars. And stick with us for interviews, photos, videos and much more about your favorite boy wizard before "Deathly Hallows - Part 1" hits theaters November 19.
Check out everything we've got on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1."
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