The fourth Harry Potter film, Goblet of Fire, was nearly given a strikingly different tone after director Mike Newell pitched producers on a Bollywood-inspired approach. Producer David Heyman explained that every previous director was invited to return, but Chris Columbus wanted to spend time with his family and Alfonso Cuarón was too exhausted, leaving the search open for a new filmmaker to take on the fourth instalment. Newell, the franchise's first British director, won the job partly because his vision matched the film's mix of spectacle, romance and new settings.

Heyman recalled on the official Harry Potter podcast that Newell described making the Quidditch World Cup and school scenes feel like "a Bollywood movie" in spirit, with singing, dancing and spectacle, while also drawing on his experience with thrillers and romantic comedies such as Four Weddings and a Funeral. The finished film went on to gross around $900 million worldwide against a $150 million budget and holds an 88% "Certified Fresh" score on Rotten Tomatoes. David Yates directed all subsequent instalments, and the franchise is now being revived as an HBO television series due in December.