Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)

] Gambon was not concerned about bettering Harris and did his own thing, putting on a slight Irish accent for the role, as well as completing his scenes in three weeks. [cite news|url=http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=3&id=613682004|title=Olivier, Dumbledore and two broken ribs|accessdate=2007-11-30|date=2004-05-30|author=Siobhan Synnot|publisher=The Scotsman] Ian McKellen was offered the role, but he turned it down having played the similar character Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. He also felt it would have been inappropriate to take Harris' role, as the late actor had called McKellen a "dreadful" actor. [cite news | author = Michael Hinman | title = No Regrets For McKellen In Turning Down Harry Potter | publisher = SyFy Portal | date = 2007-11-29 | url = http://www.syfyportal.com/news424489.html | accessdate=2007-11-30] Harris's family had expressed an interest in seeing Harris's close friend Peter O'Toole being chosen as his replacement. [cite news|url=http://www.imdb.com/news/wenn/2003-01-09#celeb2|title=Harris' Family Calling for O'Toole To Take on 'Harry Potter' Role|accessdate=2007-11-30|date=2003-01-09|publisher=Internet Movie Database]
*Gary Oldman plays Sirius Black, an escapee from the Wizarding prison Azkaban and Harry's godfather. Oldman accepted the part because he needed the money, as he had not taken on any major work in several years as he had decided to spend more time with his children.cite news|title=Coventry Evening Telegraph: GO: CINEMA: I CASHED IN ON HARRY POTTER !|accessdate=2008-02-22|date=2004-05-28|publisher=Coventry Evening Telegraph] He drew inspiration from Cuarón, who he described as having "such enthusiasm and a joy for life,"cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/tv_film/newsid_3758000/3758477.stm|title=Gary Oldman: Seriously Sirius|accessdate=2007-11-30|date=2004-05-28|publisher=Newsround] and compared Sirius to John Lennon. He was "surprised by how difficult it was to pull off", comparing the role to Shakespearean dialogue. Oldman suggested Sirius's hairstyle, while Cuarón designed his tattoos. He had read the first book, and his children were fans of the series. The part made Oldman a hero with his children and their schoolmates.
*David Thewlis plays Remus Lupin, the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts, who is actually a werewolf. He was friends with Harry's parents when they were at school, and teaches Harry to conjure a Patronus Charm to fight the Dementors. Thewlis, who had previously auditioned for the role of Professor Quirrell in "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", was Cuarón's first choice for the role of Lupin. He accepted the role on advice from Ian Hart, the man who was cast as Quirrell, who told him that Lupin was "the best part in the book." [cite web|url=http://www.moviehole.net/news/3764.html|title=Interview : David Thewlis|accessdate=2007-08-28|date=2004-06-09|author=Clint Morris|publisher=Movie Hole] Cuarón told Thewlis that he thought Lupin was gay, pitching him as a "gay junkie", although his idea turned out to be incorrect. [cite news|url=http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_16092.aspx|title=David Thewlis On Potter's Lupin: I Always Thought He Was The Gay Character|accessdate=2007-10-25|date=2007-10-24|publisher=City News] Thewlis had seen the first two films and had only read part of the first book, although after taking the role he read the third. He was excited about the prospect of making a children's film, and thoroughly enjoyed filming.
*Timothy Spall as Peter Pettigrew: The man who was supposedly killed by Sirius, only to be found alive and well, masquerading as Ron's rat Scabbers.
*Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney: The inept Hogwarts Divination teacher, who unknowingly predicts the return of Lord Voldemort.

Additional cast members include:

*Alan Rickman as Severus Snape: The Hogwarts Potions master who suspects Lupin of helping Sirius enter the castle.
*Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall: The Hogwarts Transfiguration teacher and deputy headmistress.
*Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid: The Hogwarts gamekeeper and newly appointed Care of Magical Creatures professor.
*Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy: Harry's rival.
*Dawn French as the portrait of The Fat Lady: The Gryffindor house portrait who is attacked by Sirius when she refuses him entry to the common room.
*Richard Griffiths and Fiona Shaw as Vernon and Petunia Dursley: Harry's uncaring aunt and uncle.
*Pam Ferris as Aunt Marge: Harry's offensive great aunt, who he accidentally inflates in anger when she insults his parents.
*Harry Melling as Dudley Dursley: Harry's overweight cousin.
*Robert Hardy as Cornelius Fudge: The Minister for Magic.
*Julie Christie as Madame Rosmerta: The owner of The Three Broomsticks
*Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom: The accident-prone classmate and friend of the trio. Neville was "clowned up" for the film, with Lewis wearing false yellowed teeth and oversized shoes.
*James and Oliver Phelps as Fred and George Weasley: Ron's elder twin brothers who give Harry the Marauder's Map so that he can get into Hogsmeade.
*Mark Williams and Julie Walters as Arthur and Molly Weasley: Ron's parents.
*Lee Ingleby as Stan Shunpike: The conductor of the Knight Bus.
*Jim Tavaré as Tom, the owner of the Leaky Cauldron

Reaction

Critical reception

"Prisoner of Azkaban" achieved extremely positive reviews, garnering an 89% "Certified Fresh" with a 90% "Cream of the Crop" ranking at Rotten Tomatoes [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/harry_potter_and_the_prisoner_of_azkaban/|title=Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)|accessdate=2007-08-16|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes] and a score of 81 out of 100 at Metacritic garnering "universal acclaim". [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/video/titles/harrypotterandtheprisonerofazkaban?q=harry%20potter|title=Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban|accessdate=2007-09-21|publisher=Metacritic] Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars: "Not only is this dazzler by far the best and most thrilling of the three Harry Potter movies to date, it's a film that can stand on its own even if you never heard of author J.K. Rowling and her young wizard hero." [cite news|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/6071754/review/6071752/harry_potter_and_the_prisoner_of_azkaban|title=Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban|accessdate=2007-09-21|date=2004-05-27|publisher=Newsround] "The Hollywood Reporter" called the film "a deeper, darker, visually arresting and more emotionally satisfying adaptation of the J.K. Rowling literary phenomenon", especially compared to the first two installments. [cite web|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1000521350|title=Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban|accessdate=2007-09-21|date=2004-05-28|publisher=Hollywood Reporter] Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars saying, unlike most critics, that the film "is not quite as good as the first two", but still called it "a delightful, amusing and sophisticated installment". [cite news|url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040603/REVIEWS/406030301|title=Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban|accessdate=2007-09-23|date=2004-06-03|author=Roger Ebert|publisher=Chicago Sun Times] Claudia Puig from "USA Today" praised the film as "a visual delight", [cite news|url=http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2004-06-03-harry-potter-3_x.htm|title='Azkaban' wizard Cuaron casts an artful spell|accessdate=2007-09-23|date=2004-06-03|author=Claudia Puig|publisher=USA Today] while Richard Roeper called the film "a creative triumph". [cite news|url=http://tvplex.go.com/buenavista/ebertandroeper/mp3/040607_harry_potter_azkaban.mp3|title=Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban|accessdate=2007-09-23|date=2004-06-03|author=Richard Roeper|publisher=Ebert & Roeper] Sean Smith from "Newsweek" said: "The Prisoner of Azkaban" boasts a brand-new director and a bold new vision", he also called the film "moving", praising the performances by Radcliffe and Watson, [cite news|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/redirect.aspx?to=http%3a%2f%2fwww.msnbc.msn.com%2fid%2f5040564%2fsite%2fnewsweek%2f&from=http%3a%2f%2fmsnbc.msn.com%2fid%2f5040564%2fsite%2fnewsweek%2f|title=The 'Harry Potter' books have finally gotten the wondrous movie they deserve. 'The Prisoner of Azkaban' boasts a brand-new director and a bold new vision.|accessdate=2007-09-23|date=2004-05-31|author=Sean Smith|publisher=Newsweek] while "Entertainment Weekly" praised the film for being more mature than its predecessors. [cite news|url=http://www.oregonlive.com/movies/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1086090938246590.xml|title=Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban|accessdate=2007-09-24|date=2004-06-03|author=Owen Gleiberman|publisher=Entertainment Weekly] Some of the negative criticism came from "The Washington Post": "Put delicately, this is one long sit, made all the more so by a turgid story, a dour visual palette and uninspiring action". [cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14361-2004Jun3.html|title=Harry-Raising Adventure: Only Fans Will Love 'Potter 3,' Hogwarts and All|accessdate=2007-09-24|date=2004-06-04|author=Ann Hornaday|publisher=Washington Post] Rex Reed, of "The New York Observer", also pointed out some over the top style changes, calling it "The silliest, as well as the most contrived -- and confusing -- of them all".

Box office performance

The film opened in the United Kingdom on 31 May and on 4 June in the United States. It broke numerous records upon its worldwide release. It broke the record for biggest single day in U.K. box office history making £5.3 million on a Monday. [cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/tv_film/newsid_3769000/3769291.stm|title=Azkaban breaks box office record|accessdate=2007-09-24|date=2004-06-02|publisher=BBC News] It went on to break records both with and without previews making a stunning £23.9 million including previews [cite web|url=http://www.sky-is-falling.co.uk/openingweekends-alltime.html|title=All time box office openings|publisher=Sky is Falling|accessdate=2007-09-24] and £9.3 million excluding them. [cite web|url=http://www.sky-is-falling.co.uk/openingweekends-3dayonly-alltime.html|title=All time box office openings no previews|publisher=Sky is Falling|accessdate=2007-09-24] The film made $93.7 million during its opening weekend in the United States, achieving the third biggest opening weekend of all time. [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=1387&p=.htm|title=Hotter 'Potter:' Summer Bow Yields Franchise High|accessdate=2007-09-22|date=2004-06-07|author=Brandon Gray|publisher=Box Office Mojo] It went on to make £46.1 million in the U.K. [cite web|url=http://www.sky-is-falling.co.uk/archives-alltime.html|title=All time box office|publisher=Sky is Falling|accessdate=2007-09-24]

"The Prisoner of Azkaban" made a total of $795.5 million worldwide, [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=harrypotter3.htm|title=HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=2007-09-24] which made it the second highest-grossing film of 2004 behind "Shrek 2". [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?view2=worldwide&yr=2004&p=.htm|title=2004 WORLDWIDE GROSSES|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=2007-09-24] In the United States, it was only the sixth highest-grossing film of the year making $249.5 million. [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=2004&p=.htm|title=2004 DOMESTIC GROSSES|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=2007-09-24] Everywhere else in the world, however, it was the number one film of the year, making $546 million compared to "Shrek 2's" $478.6 million. [cite web|url=http://www.boxofficemojo.com/intl/weekend/yearly/?yr=2004&p=.htm|title=OVERSEAS TOTAL YEARLY BOX OFFICE|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=2007-09-24] Despite its successful box office run, "Azkaban" is currently the lowest-grossing "Harry Potter" film (all the other "Harry Potter" films have grossed more than US $875 million worldwide). "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" is currently the 21st highest grossing film in history.

Awards

"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" was nominated in the 77th Academy Awards held in 2005 for two Oscars.
*Academy Award for Original Music Score - John Williams (Lost to "Finding Neverland" by Jan A. P. Kaczmarek)
*Academy Award for Visual Effects (Lost to "Spider-Man 2")Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was also nominated for Favorite Movie at the 2005 Kids' Choice Awards, but it lost to The Incredibles.

Differences from the book

"Prisoner of Azkaban" was, at the time of publication, the longest book in the series. The increasing plot complexity necessitated a looser adaptation of the book's finer plot lines and back-story. The connection between Harry's parents and the Marauder's map is only briefly mentioned,cite news|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/movies/a64205/harry-potter-books-vs-films.html?page=3|title=Harry Potter: books vs. films|publisher=Digital Spy|accessdate=2007-10-10|date=2007-07-09|last=Dadds|first=Kimberly|coauthors=Miriam Zendle] as is Remus Lupin's association to both the map and James Potter.cite web|url=http://www.canmag.com/news/3/3/248|title=Movie Rant|publisher=CanMag Magazine|accessdate=2007-09-14|date=2004-11-28] Some exposition was removed for dramatic effect: both the Shrieking Shack and Scabbers the rat are mentioned only very briefly in the film adaptation, while they receive a more thorough coverage in the novel. Most of the back story of Sirius Black is also cut, with no mention of the manner of his escape from Azkaban, his abilities as an Animagus, or the origin of the Firebolt he sends Harry.. This leads to at least one continuity error. In the film, it is never explained how Professor Lupin knew how to work the Marauder's Map. In the book, it is revealed that he was one of its creators. Also, magic is not supposed to be allowed outside Hogwarts for under-aged students, as seen when Harry accidentally blows up Aunt Marge, however, Harry is seen using a spell in his bedroom in the opening of the movie.

Harry, in the book, never actually produced a working Patronus until he fought off the Dementors by the lake later in the book. In the movie, he was able to conjure an exceedingly powerful one on his second try. In addition, Harry needed five attempts in Professor Lupin's lessons to get even a little bit of a Patronus in the book.

Neville and Ginny were in the compartment with Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Lupin in the book. However, in the movie it is only the trio and Lupin.

On account of pace and time considerations, the film glosses over detailed descriptions of magical education. Only one Hippogriff, Buckbeak, is seen, and only Malfoy and Harry are seen interacting with the Hippogriff during Care of Magical Creatures lessons, and most other lessons, including all of Snape's potions classes, were cut from the film. The complicated description of the Fidelius Charm is removed entirely from the film adaptation, with no explanation given of exactly how Black betrayed the Potters to Lord Voldemort. Many of the lines in this scene are redistributed amongst Cornelius Fudge and Minerva McGonagall; in compensation, McGonagall's exposition of the Animagus transformation is instead given by Snape.

Many other sequences in the film were modified from the literary counterparts to increase pace and tension. The Time-Turner sequence in particular is extended and restructured; while in the novel Harry and Hermione take great care to avoid disrupting the timeline of events, in the film version they do so several times, both accidentally and deliberately. At one point, Hermione is nearly revealed to her prior self whilst commenting on the state of her hair; at another, the pair prompt their prior selves to escape discovery by throwing stones at themselves through the window of Hagrid's hut. The scene in which Hermione strikes Malfoy occurs as part of this sequence of events in the film, but occurs earlier in the book (and in the book, Hermione simply slaps Malfoy, whereas in the film, she punches him). It should also be noted that Malfoy was far less capable of composing himself in this scene than he was in the novel, as he begins sobbing both when Hermione pulls her wand on him and when she punches him. In the novel, while he still got the short end of the stick, he only walked away frustrated, rather than in tears.

The embryonic romantic connection between Ron and Hermione is more prominent in the film adaptation than the original book; in response to criticism of the first two films for sacrificing character development for mystery and adventure, the emotional development of all three lead characters is given more attention in the third film. That said, any mention of the beginnings of Harry's crush on Cho Chang is removed. [cite news|url=http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,654023,00.html|title=Harry Situation|accessdate=2007-10-10|date=2004-06-17|publisher=Entertainment Weekly] The darker side of Harry, first seen in "Prisoner of Azkaban" is glimpsed in this film, when Harry proclaims, "I hope he [Black] finds me. Cause when he does, I'm gonna be ready. When he does, I'm gonna kill him".

Comparison to preceding films in the "Harry Potter" series

The third film departed from several conventions set in the first two movies, and had several stylistic changes. This is mostly due to the introduction of a new director to the series, but may also be explained by the fact that the third book of the series was significantly longer than the previous two books, and the director was given more freedom to adapt the book in the interest of screening time. Overall, this film is more than ten minutes shorter than each of the other films in the series.

All the "Harry Potter" books contain scenes relating to the mystery/adventure aspect of the stories along with emotional scenes designed to explore the characters. The first two films had a tendency to focus mainly on the mystery/adventure aspect, leaving out most of the emotional scenes, which inevitably bred criticisms of a lack of character development and related issues.

In the third film, the paradigm was reversed with more emphasis on Harry's angst than on the plot mechanics and faithfulness to the narrative. (There is also an emphasis on certain character's moments of foolishness, present, or sometimes highlighted and emphasized, only in the movie. This includes Ron and Malfoy.) With less focus on the adventure, many moments in the film are somewhat dramatized instead. Some felt that this created a murky plotline, but many film critics and fans were more than pleased with these changes, believing it made the film stronger and the characters more interesting and believable than the two previous.

Continuity between films

The landscape and layout of Hogwarts has changed since prior films. The changes noticeable in this film include:

* The addition of "Clock Tower" (A similar tower can be spotted in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in the spot the clock tower would be, but the tower is missing the clock itself).
* The Fat Lady's portrait (in addition to being completely different than the one in the first two films) now resides on the grand staircase, while in the first two films the Fat Lady's portrait was at the end of a long hallway. This change causes several mistakes/problems. The common room is meant to be in a tower, which means that its entrance cannot be direct from the stairs. As well as this, the entrances are meant to be secret, i.e. only people from Gryffindor house should know where the portrait is. This, however, allowed the Fat Lady to be found quickly amongst the other portraits (which in the film are placed around in the room with moving staircases) when she left her own.
* Hagrid's hut is now larger, much farther from the school and is surrounded by hills.
* The Whomping Willow is now located on a hilltop at some distance from Hogwarts.
* A large wooden bridge now exists, which was not mentioned in the books and did not appear in the previous films, which leads to Hagrid's hut and the Whomping Willow. (However, this bridge is used in subsequent films four and five.)
* Tom the bartender in the Leaky Cauldron is different from Tom in the first film.
*Albus Dumbledore, due to Richard Harris's death, is portrayed by Michael Gambon.
* The spells make a shrill high-pitched noise when they are cast. In the previous two films, the noises spells made varied or did not make one.
* Student uniforms have been redesigned somewhat from their portrayal in the first two films, most noticeably in House neckties and scarves. While both previously featured House colours in equal-width stripes, neckties now feature one background colour with an alternating pattern of two thick stripes and one thin stripe of a foreground colour, and house scarves feature thinner foreground stripes in groups of two over the background. More subtly, the lining of student robes has changed from black to house colours (identical to the background colour on ties and scarves), while house sweaters are a darker shade of grey and only have house stripes along the waistband and cuffs (in previous films, these were around the collar as well); later films also introduce cardigan and vest varieties. The Gryffindor logo on their uniforms has also changed, the Lion is now in a silver colour rather than Gold as in the previous two movies.
* The wands differ from those shown in the first two films. Hermione's wand is now 15 inches long, with vine carvings. Harry's now 14 -inch wand is the most changed; the handle appears to be made from a tree branch with bark while the shaft appears to be not polished but rough.
* It appears that Ron and Hermione have developed a romantic liking. Hints are that they almost held hands when Harry was approaching Buckbeak and that they were standing together near the ledge in Hogsmeade. Draco Malfoy even said something about it. However, it is not suggested that Ron likes Hermione until Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Foreshadowment

Several things in the film foreshadowed later events in the series that were not present in the novel:

*Ron and Hermione's possible feelings for each other develop significantly in the film while they are not introduced or hinted at until the fourth book.

*Harry glimpses Sirius Black's face in a crystal ball calling his name. This could be a connection to the prophecy and the reason Harry finds it.

*The Dementors are described as gliding in the books yet they can fly to great heights in the movies. Their movement is almost identical to the way Voldemort is described as flying in the seventh book.

*After Harry wakes up in the hospital wing after the Quidditch match, one of the Weasley twins makes a comment to Ron "why don't we walk you off the Astronamy Tower and see how you look afterwards" which is a crude reference to Dumbledore's death at the end of the sixth book.

*During a conversation with Harry, Lupin says his mother had a talent for seeing the good in everyone. We assume he is referring to himself when he is more likely referring to the friendship Lily had with Snape as revealed in the seventh book.

*Harry is chased on his broom by a swarm of dementors and one of them catches up with him, causing him to fall off his broom. This is quite similar to the chase at the beginning of the seventh book.

*When the werewolf attacks, Snape shields Harry, Ron and Hermione from him which is a sign of his true loyalty.

References

External links

* [http://www.harrypotter.com/ Official "Harry Potter" films site]
* [http://www.harrypotter.co.uk/ Official UK "Harry Potter" films site]
*imdb title|id=0304141|title=Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Box Office Leaders USA
before = Shrek 2
year = 2004
date = June 6
date2 = June 13
after =