In 1997, producer David Heyman looked for a children's novel to adapt, and his assistant suggested Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In 1999, J.K. Rowling sold the rights to the first four books to Warner Bros. for a reported £1 million, insisting the cast be strictly British and Irish. Steven Spielberg first negotiated to direct, reportedly wanting an animated DreamWorks version, but he left and made A.I. Artificial Intelligence instead. Many directors were considered before Chris Columbus was chosen in 2000, partly because of his work on Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire. Columbus wrote a 130-page vision for the film and pitched it in person. Casting took months: the first casting director quit after disagreements, and the lead roles were chosen from open calls. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson were selected in August 2000, while Alan Rickman, Richard Harris, Maggie Smith and Robbie Coltrane were cast as the adult roles.

In 1909 D. W. Griffith made a 14-minute film about a speculator who corners the wheat market and doubles the price of bread. A farmer sows his field while a 'Wheat King' gambles in the Chicago wheat pit; bakers raise the loaf from five cents to ten and the poor line up for bread. Griffith cut back and forth between the farm, the feast and the breadline, a technique called parallel editing, so audiences saw both ends of the economy at once. The film drew on Frank Norris's stories and on a real scheme: months earlier Chicago financier James Patten had cornered wheat, sent bread prices up and made about $5 million, roughly $185 million today.