Have you ever wanted to watch extended versions of the Harry Potter movies, like the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions? Unfortunately, we have not got such extensive editions or director cuts of the Wizarding World films like the J.R.R Tolkien adaptations got. There are, however, extended versions of all the Harry Potter films, but they are hard to track down and some only exist as TV exclusives.
What are the Harry Potter Extended Versions?
The Harry Potter Extended Versions have the deleted scenes, found on the home movie releases, cut back into the film.
The extended versions of the first two movies were first seen on the ABC Family TV Network in 2004. The Ultimate Edition releases of Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets in 2009 included the extended versions of each film. They are the only extended editions released on DVD and Blu-ray. Film 3-8 are shown as extended versions on the TV Network that owns the broadcasting rights (formerly ABC Family/FreeForm, now USA Network and SyFy).
There has never been an official explanation as too why only the first two films have gotten official releases of the extended versions. However, there have been rumours that Alfonso Cuarón did not want to create an extended edition of Prisoner of Azkaban, so therefore Warner Brothers scrapped it for the rest of the series. It is believed that the extended version of movie 3-8 shown on TV was edited by the TV Network itself, as Warner Brothers don’t seem to acknowledge the existence of these extended editions.
David Hayman, a producer of all the Harry Potter films, was asked about the extended versions in an interview with Empire Magazine. Hayman answered questions from the fans in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter movie.
Would you ever release extended editions of all the Harry Potter movies with all the scenes that were shot but didn't even appear in the DVD extras?
That's up to Warner Bros. When you leave scenes out, you leave them out for a reason. Partly it's bringing down the length, but partly the scenes don't fit within the arc or drive of the film. I know some scenes have been fitted in - ABC, who showed some of the films in the US, had extended cuts which included some of the deleted scenes. I never like those. I understand that fans may enjoy them, but for me, I always feel marginally uncomfortable in the sense that they're not the film that we delivered. And there's a reason why we delivered those. Nobody ever told us to cut out a scene - we did it of our own volition because it didn't feel right, or it wasn't best for the film we were making. I don't mind having those deleted scenes accessible to people to have a look, because some of them are good scenes - they just didn't necessarily fit.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Extended Version
The extended cut of the first film runs 159 minutes while the theatrical version runs 152 minutes, adding seven minutes of footage.
Deleted scenes included in the extended version of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone:
Dudley’s New School Uniform - (00:53)
Petunia Cracks Egg with Letters Inside - (00:37)
Tube Ride - (00:38)
Snape Classroom (Extended) - (01:30 extended)
Kids Leave Girl’s Bathroom - (00:20)
Harry Sits by Fire in Great Hall - (00:59)
Harry Find Nicolas Flamel Card - (01:54)
Those scenes are not the only scenes they cut from the movie. If you want to find out more about the deleted and unreleased scenes from the first film, you can learn more here.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Extended Version
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Extended Version has a running time of 174 minutes compared to the 161 minutes running time of the theatrical release. The extended edition adds 19 scenes back into the movie, which totals to about 13 minutes.
Deleted scenes included in the extended version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets:
Floating Cake - (01:12)
Borgin & Burkes - (03:16)
Exiting to Knockturn Alley - (00:27)
Flying Car Over London - (00:32)
Harry Finds Kwikspell Letter - (00:33)
Harry Meets Colin Creevey - (00:29)
Dark Arts Exam - (01:19)
Rogue Bludger - (00:23)
Harry Meets Justin Finch-Fletchley - (00:24)
Harry Sits with Hedwig - (00:53)
Harry Overhears Students - (01:09)
Harry Runs into Hagrid - (00:57)
Ron and Hermione Question Harry - (01:19)
Polyjuice Preparation - (00:34)
Crabbe & Goyle - (00:23)
Ron Remembers Tom Riddle - (01:49)
Harry tells Ron about Hagrid - (00:23)
Harry and Ron use Invisibility Cloak - (00:22)
Finding Flying Car in the Forbidden Forest - (00:44)
Many more scenes were cut from the film. If you would like to learn about the deleted and unreleased scenes from the second film, you can find out more here.
History and Releases of the Extended Versions
TV Networks
The first extended version was made for ABC Family’s broadcast premiere of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in May 2004. Chris Columbus added the 7 minutes of deleted scenes, found on the bonus features DVD, back into the movie. He later added the deleted scenes back into the second movie as well.
Subsequently, all the deleted scenes found on the bonus features have been added back into each movie for the ABC Family versions. The TV Versions of films 3-8 is the only possible way to watch those films with the deleted scenes added back. In 2016 ABC Family changed its name to FreeForm. The same year they also lost the rights to broadcast the Harry Potter movies to NBCUniversal.
USA Network and SyFy (owned by NBCUniversal) are where you can watch the Harry Potter films on TV as of now. They air the extended versions of all eight movies.
Ultimate Editions
Fans rejoiced when Warner Bros announced the Ultimate Editions back in 2009.
Beginning December 8, the studio will release on Blu-ray and DVD the first two of eight Harry Potter Ultimate Editions. Each of the Ultimate Editions will include a new one-hour featurette that highlights a unique aspect of the filmmaking process and will be combined to make the complete 8-hour documentary, Creating the World of Harry Potter. Ultimate Editions include five hours of special features (one hour of which is the new featurette); theatrical and extended versions of the film; 48-page collectible photo book and other magical collectibles.
Finally, we would get the extended versions on DVD and Blu-ray, something that had been rumoured to be in the works for a long time. Even though only movie 1-5 had been released on Blu-ray and DVD at that time, fans got excited to see new extended versions of all 8 Harry Potter movies. Therefore it was a big disappointment when the Ultimate Editions for Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire did not include extended editions. This was also true for the rest of the Ultimate Edition releases.
Extended Version DVDs
The Extended Versions of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was also released on single-disc DVDs in 2009.
Buy the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Extended Version DVD on eBay (affiliate link)
Buy the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Extended Version DVD on eBay (affiliate link)
Video on Demand and Streaming
The movie was made available on Video on Demand and for streaming in 2009, but it is not widely available anymore. However, it seems that you could still rent the Sorcerer’s Stone Extended Version on Amazon, but the Chamber of Secrets is unavailable. On Amazon UK it is possible to buy and rent both extended versions.
Watch Sorcerer’s Stone Extended Version on Amazon (affiliate link)
Watch Chamber of Secrets Extended Version on Amazon UK (affiliate link)
Wizard’s Collection
The next release of the extended editions was in 2012 with the Wizard's Collection. This 31-disc limited-edition collection contains all eight films on Blu-ray, DVD and UltraViolet, more than 45 hours of special features and exclusive never-before-seen content, and must-have memorabilia
Learn more about the collection here.
Hogwarts Collection
The extended version was also included in the Hogwarts Collection released in 2014. This comprehensive 31-disc collection contains all eight Harry Potter movies on Blu-ray, DVD and UltraViolet and more than 45 hours of special features including the Creating the World of Harry Potter documentary series on Blu-ray.
Learn more about the collection here.
Two-Disc Special Edition
In 2016 Warner Brothers redesigned the Blu-ray and DVD covers to celebrate the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The DVD covers got the “Moments” artwork, which shows the characters and a magical creature that’s important to the specific film. The Blu-ray covers got the “Iconic” artwork, which features an iconic visual from each story.
The Extended Versions are found on the “Iconic” Blu-ray Two-Disc Special Edition for the first two films. The Two-Disc Special Edition comes with the film and it’s corresponding Creating the World of Harry Potter part.
Buy the Sorcerer’s Stone Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray on Amazon (affiliate link)
Buy the Chamber of Secrets Two-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray on Amazon (affiliate link)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Combo Pack
For the first time, the Harry Potter films are available in 4K HDR. This 8-Film Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo pack was released in 2017. Unfortunately, only the Blu-ray discs of the first two movies contain the extended version and not the 4K HDR’s.
Buy the 8-film Collection in 4K Ultra HD on Amazon (affiliate link)
Harry Potter Double Feature
The latest release of the extended editions was in 2018. They are available on the Blu-Ray release of the Harry Potter 2-Film Collection - Years 1&2.
Buy the Harry Potter 2-Film Collection - Years 1&2 on Amazon (affiliate link)
