The Harry Potter Scene That Chris Columbus Thought Would Get Sorcerer's Stone A PG-13 Rating

Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter in shock toward the end of Sorcerer's Stone with tattered red sweater and blood on his face.

I realize that the Harry Potter movies are known to be fairly family-friendly, but it's still a bit surprising to me today to consider that four of the eight book-to-screen film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's series received PG ratings. It seems far more common these days that PG movies are animated. Of course, there are exceptions to that -- Wicked and its sequel were rated PG, for example. There are dark moments in each Harry Potter movie, but apparently not always so dark (by 2000s standards, anyway) to earn a PG-13 rating. The film's rating was understandably a concern for director Chris Columbus when he was making the first movie.

(Image credit: Warner Bros)