"[Steve Kloves] is a brilliant adapter, in the sense that he is able to retain the voice of the author that he's adapting....He is a fantastic writer, who manages to bring a... who has a keen sense of character, and really understands the voice of the actors. He has written four. He also can write with great emotion, and at the same time, also great humor.

"He is not doing the fifth because he is writing another script for me called The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, which I hope he will direct. However, he read the sixth book and couldn't stay away, so he's going to come back and write the sixth."

At this, Mike Newell, who had just heard this for the first time, responded enthusiastically, saying, "Oh, great! Oh, that is good."