Guillermo Del Toro turned down the chance to direct a Harry Potter film because he thought making vampire sequel Blade II would be much more fun. In retrospect he regrets turning down 2004’s Prisoner of Azkaban, but hasn't give up hope filming another installment so he could "kill one of the kids in Harry Potter," he told British film magazine Empire.

"It’s not out of principle that I turned down Potter. Maybe it looks that way from the outside, but from the inside that's what I felt I wanted to do. I stand by the fact that I was very attracted to the chance to make creepy-looking vampires for many years."