Director Chris Columbus says he has an excellent reason for stepping down as director of the Harry Potter film series: he wants to spend more time with his family "My kids who got me into it, I haven't seen for dinner in two and a half years," Columbus recently told United Press International. "And I just want to be able to drop them off at school and be there at night to help them with homework -- really parent stuff that I haven't been involved with in two and a half years "But, I still feel a responsibility to the (Harry Potter) kids, so I'm staying on as a producer (on the third film) only to make sure that the transition between (the children and) the new director goes smoothly. I don't want it to be a set that is filled with tension and anxiety. Our rule has always been 'make it a comfortable place for the kids.' If there are any disagreements or arguments that need to happen, you take them off the set," said the man behind such popular children's films as "Home Alone," "Goonies" and "Gremlins." "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," based on J.K. Rowling's book, is considered one of the most successful films of all-time. Warner Brothers, the studio that produced the film, is hoping audiences will embrace "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," the second adventure featuring the boy wizard and his pals, as enthusiastically when it opens Friday Taking over the helm of the third installment of the franchise is Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron, best-known for last year's sexy hit, "Y Tu Mama Tambien."
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