With this film, theHarry Potter series switched to a longer eighteen-month production cycle. Cuarón was selected as director from a list that includedCallie Khouri andKenneth Branagh. The cast of previous instalments returned for the film, with the additions ofGary Oldman,David Thewlis,Timothy Spall, andEmma Thompson, among others. It was the first appearance ofMichael Gambon as ProfessorAlbus Dumbledore, due toRichard Harris's death in 2002. Principal photography began in February 2003 atLeavesden Film Studios. It was the first in the series to extensively use real-life locations, with sets built in Scotland and scenes shot in London. Filming wrapped in November 2003.
The film was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom, and on 4 June 2004 in North America. It was the firstHarry Potter film to use IMAX Technology and was released inIMAX theaters.Prisoner of Azkaban grossed a total of $808 million worldwide, making it thesecond-highest-grossing film of 2004, behindShrek 2. The film received critical acclaim, with particular praise for Cuarón's direction and the lead actors' performances. It is credited for marking a notable shift in the franchise's tone and directing style and is often regarded by critics and fans alike as the bestHarry Potter film. It was nominated for twoAcademy Awards,Best Original Music Score andBest Visual Effects, at the77th Academy Awards in 2004. It was followed byHarry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005.
During another unhappy summer with the Dursleys,Harry Potter becomes enraged when Vernon's sisterMarge viciously insults his parents and accidentally causes her to inflate and float away. Expecting to be expelled fromHogwarts for using magic outside school, Harry runs away but is picked up by theKnight Bus and taken toThe Leaky Cauldron, whereMinister for MagicCornelius Fudge assures Harry that he will not face punishment. Upon reuniting with his best friendsRon Weasley andHermione Granger, Harry learns thatSirius Black, an alleged supporter ofLord Voldemort, has escapedAzkaban prison and is expected to come after Harry.
Hogwarts is put on high alert when the portrait ofThe Fat Lady warns that Black is in the castle and attempted to break into Gryffindor Tower. The Dementors attack Harry during aQuidditch match, but he is saved by Dumbledore, althoughhis broomstick is destroyed; Harry's sensitivity to the Dementors prompts him to ask Lupin to teach him the Patronus Charm. Harry, unable to visitHogsmeade Village without permission from his guardians, attempts to sneak out of the castle but is caught byFred and George Weasley, who provide him withthe Marauder's Map, which shows him a secure passage to Hogsmeade. AboveThe Three Broomsticks pub, he overhears ProfessorMinerva McGonagall, pub ownerMadam Rosmerta and Fudge discuss how Black is Harry's godfather, divulged the Potters' whereabouts to Lord Voldemort, and murdered their mutual friendPeter Pettigrew; Harry vows to kill Black if they meet.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione witness the execution of Buckbeak, after which a large black dog drags Ron into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione follow them through an underground passage to theShrieking Shack, where the dog is revealed to be Black, anAnimagus. Lupin appears in the shack, where he is revealed to be an old friend of Black and awerewolf. Lupin and Black reveal that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, is actually the Animagus form of Pettigrew, who is returned to human form and confesses to having betrayed Harry's parents, framed Black, and faked his own death.
The group heads back to the castle, intending to both exonerate Black—who offers to let Harry live with him instead of the Dursleys—and expose Pettigrew as the real killer, but the full moon causes Lupin to transform into a werewolf; amid the chaos, Pettigrew turns back into a rat and escapes. Black transforms into his animal form and fights off werewolf Lupin, who seriously injures Black. Harry finds Black, and Dementors attack them both until an unseen person casts a powerful Patronus charm to ward them off.
Harry falls unconscious and awakens in the hospital wing, while Black has been recaptured and, with Pettigrew gone, sentenced to theDementor's Kiss. With Dumbledore's advice, Harry and Hermione use herTime-Turner to travel back in time and rescue Buckbeak from execution. Harry realizes he had saved himself and Black previously with a Patronus charm and used it to drive the Dementors away. They successfully free Black, who escapes on Buckbeak. Lupin subsequently resigns, his secret condition as a werewolf having been exposed. Harry receives a newFirebolt broomstick from Black.
Michael Gambon asAlbus Dumbledore: Theheadmaster of Hogwarts and one of the greatest wizards of all time.[7] Gambon assumed the role afterRichard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the previous two films, died ofHodgkin's disease on 25 October 2002, three weeks before the second film's release.[8] Despite his illness, Harris was determined to film his part, telling a visiting David Heyman not to recast the role.[9] Four months after Harris's death, Cuarón chose Gambon as his replacement.[7] Gambon was unconcerned with bettering or copying Harris, giving his own interpretation instead, but putting on a slight Irish accent for the role as an homage to him.[10][11] He completed his scenes in three weeks.[12] The producers originally offered the role toIan McKellen, but McKellen turned it down as he had played a similar characterGandalf inThe Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also stated it would have been inappropriate to take Harris' role, as Harris had previously called McKellen a "dreadful" actor.[13]Christopher Lee was also considered, he later said that it would have been a very "bad taste" if he was offered the role.[14][15] Harris' family had expressed an interest in seeing Harris's close friendPeter O'Toole being chosen as his replacement, but the producers felt that his age and health would become troublesome down the line.[16] According to Columbus, O'Toole turned down the role due to his close friend relationship with Harris, feeling that it didn't feel right to step into his shoes.[17][18]
Gary Oldman asSirius Black: Harry's infamous godfather, who escapes from the Wizarding prisonAzkaban after serving twelve years there for being wrongly accused of being theDeath Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort. Oldman accepted the part because he needed the money, as he had not taken on any major work in several years after deciding to spend more time with his children.[20] He was "surprised by how difficult it was to pull off", comparing the role toShakespearean dialogue.[21]
Timothy Spall asPeter Pettigrew: A former friend of Harry's parents said to have been killed by Sirius Black, but was later revealed to have been the real Death Eater who betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort.[22]
David Thewlis asRemus Lupin: The newDefence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and awerewolf.[22]Robin Williams was interested in the role, but was turned down due to the "British only" cast rule.[23] Thewlis, who had previously auditioned for the role ofQuirinus Quirrell inHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), was Cuarón's first choice for the role of Professor Lupin. He accepted the role on advice fromIan Hart, who was cast as Quirrell, and had told him that Professor Lupin was "the best part in the book."[24] Thewlis had seen the first two films and had only read part of the first book, although he read the third after taking the role.[10]
With the film adaptation ofHarry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, production of theHarry Potter films switched to an eighteen-month cycle, which producerDavid Heyman explained was "to give each [film] the time it required."[9]Chris Columbus, the director ofHarry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) andHarry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), decided not to return to helm the third instalment as he wanted to spend more time with his children.[45] Even so, Columbus remained on as a producer alongside Heyman, as Columbus felt that such capacity offered him a better work-life balance, allowing him to not be present on the set all the time and spend time with his children.[46][47]Guillermo del Toro was approached to direct, but had envisioned a moreDickensian version of the stories, and was put off by the first two films which he found too "bright and happy and full of light".[48]Marc Forster turned down the film because he had madeFinding Neverland (2004) and did not want to direct child actors again.[49]M. Night Shyamalan was considered to direct but turned it down because he was working on his own film,The Village (2004).[50] Warner Bros. then composed a three-name shortlist for Columbus's replacement, which consisted ofCallie Khouri,Kenneth Branagh (who playedGilderoy Lockhart inChamber of Secrets) and eventual selectionAlfonso Cuarón in July 2002.[51] Cuarón was initially reluctant to direct, as he had not read any of the books or seen the films. Del Toro berated him for his arrogance and told him to read the books.[52] After reading the series, he changed his mind and signed on to direct, as he had immediately connected to the story.[53][46]
Cuarón's appointment pleasedJ. K. Rowling, who loved his filmY tu mamá también (2001) and was impressed withhis 1995 adaptation ofA Little Princess (1905).[54] Heyman found that "tonally and stylistically, [Cuarón] was the perfect fit."[9] As his first exercise with the actors who portray the central trio, Cuarón assigned Radcliffe, Grint and Watson to write an autobiographical essay about their character, written in the first person, spanning birth to the discovery of the magical world, and including the character's emotional experience. Cuarón recalls, "Emma's essay was 10 pages long. Daniel's was exactly two. Rupert didn't deliver the essay. When I questioned why he didn't do it, he said, 'I'm Ron; Ron wouldn't do it.'[55] So I said, 'Okay, you do understand your character.' That was the most important piece of acting work that we did onPrisoner of Azkaban, because it was very clear that everything they put in those essays was going to be the pillars they were going to hold on to for the rest of the process."[10][56]
Cuarón wanted to establish a more mature tone in the characters' costumes and the sets. He explained, "What I really wanted to do was to make Hogwarts more contemporary and a little more naturalistic." He studied English schools and noted, "Each teenager's individuality was reflected in the way they wore their uniform. So I asked all the kids in the film to wear their uniforms as they would if their parents weren't around."[57] Columbus considered the costumes changes as "a reflection of the character development within the books themselves" and their transition to teenagers.[57] Whereas in the first two films the characters are constantly in their uniforms, inPrisoner of Azkaban the characters often wear modern street clothes.[11] Rowling, who was consulted for this change, stated, "for me the cloaks and everything makes sense for the academic time but in personal time they would be wearing their own clothes."[11]Jany Temime joined the film ascostume designer, eventually working on all of the following instalments in the series.[58]
For Remus Lupin, Temime opted for "tweeds typical of England." Cuarón stated that the character should look like "an uncle who parties hard on the weekends", so Temime preserved his gown "unkempt and more shabby than the other teachers' robes."[57] For Trelawney, Thompson made sketches of the costumes and sent them to Temime and Cuarón. Thompson saw the character as "a person who hasn't looked in the mirror for a long time". In order to highlight the character's short-sightedness, Temime used material filled with mirrors and eyes, as well as oversized glasses with magnifying lenses.[57] Cuarón wanted Dumbledore to look like "an old hippie, but still very chic and with a lot of class". Temime usedtie-dyed silk that would float behind him while walking, which she considered "a much lighter look" that gave the character more energy, in contrast with the "heavy and majestic" costumes designed for Harris' portrayal of Dumbledore.[57]
Cuarón's main concern was for Hogwarts to have a larger scope and be grounded in the real world.[59] The scale model of the Hogwarts exterior designed for the first film was expanded by around 40% forPrisoner of Azkaban. Production designerStuart Craig and art director Gary Tomkins added constructions including a clock tower and a courtyard,[60] and the hospital wing was redesigned and rebuilt.[59] Other sets constructed for the film included the Hogsmeade village and The Three Broomsticks public house.[57]
The use of real-life locations significantly changed the look of Hagrid's hut. ForPrisoner of Azkaban, the landscape around the set changed from being completely flat to the side of a hill.[61] The hut doubled in size, with a separate bedroom built on the back and the addition of a large pumpkin patch and a chimney.[61][62] Craig cited the Shrieking Shack as a particularly challenging set to create. It was built on a large hydraulic platform with the help of the special effects department, "creaking and moving as if being continually buffeted by the wind" in order to appear almost alive.[57]
The third film was the first to extensively use real-life locations, as much of the first two films had been shot in the studio. Three sets for the film were built inGlen Coe, Scotland, near theClachaig Inn.[65] Harry's ride on Buckbeak over Hogwarts' Lake was filmed at theVirginia Water Lake in Surrey.[66] The Black Lake was also filmed fromLoch Shiel,Loch Eilt andLoch Morar in the Scottish Highlands.[67] Incidentally, theGlenfinnan Viaduct railway, which was also featured inChamber of Secrets, is opposite Loch Shiel and was used to film the sequences when the Dementor boarded the train.[62] A small section of the Knight Bus scene, where it weaves in between traffic, was filmed in North London'sPalmers Green on 2 April 2003.[68] Some parts were also filmed in and aroundBorough Market andLambeth Bridge in London.[69] Certain scenes were also filmed at theUniversity of Oxford; those set in the hospital wing were filmed at the university'sDivinity School.[70]
Director of photographyMichael Seresin considered the story much darker compared to its two predecessors, so he employed "moody [lighting], with more shadows". He used a variety ofwide-angle lenses to amplify Hogwarts' prominence in the story, and only used close-ups sparingly. "We prefer to observe the kids from further away, as I find body language to be very interesting", Cuarón explained.[57]
Rowling allowed Cuarón to make minor changes to the book, on the condition that he stuck to the book's spirit.[53] She allowed him to place asundial on Hogwarts' grounds, but rejected a graveyard, as that would play an important part in the then-unreleasedsixth book.[53] Rowling said she "got goosebumps" when she saw several moments in the film, as they inadvertently referred to events in the final two books, she stated, "people are going to look back on the film and think that those were put in deliberately as clues."[54] When filming concluded, Cuarón found that it had "been the two sweetest years of my life," and expressed his interest in directing one of the sequels.[53]
The Knight Bus sequence was shot over several weeks at various locations in London. In order to give the impression of the vehicle moving at 100 miles per hour (161 km/h), stunt coordinatorGreg Powell explained, "We drove the bus at about 30 miles per hour [48 km/h] and the other cars were going only about 8 [13]. It took weeks of planning with stunt drivers, and even the people you see on the street are stunt men and women, who were trained to walk incredibly slow just to make the bus look faster."[57]
Cuarón originally wanted to move away from CGI toward puppetry. He hired master puppeteerBasil Twist and experimented with underwater puppets to figure out the movements of dementors.[9][57] The tests were shot inslow motion, but ultimately the method wasn't practical. The water test footage provided creative direction for the visual effects team, adding the intangible metaphysical quality Cuarón was seeking. Visual effects supervisorsTim Burke andRoger Guyett, theIndustrial Light & Magic VFX team, and Temime collaborated in the creation of dementors.[57]
Buckbeak at the Making of Harry Potter tour.
Cuarón commented on the difficulty of creating Buckbeak, which took months of research and preparation, beginning with the creature's skeletal design. Cuarón said, "Once we worked out the physiology, the way his bones would actually move, we had to capture his personality, which is a mixture of regal elegance, particularly when he is flying, and the clumsy and greedy creature he becomes back on land." Creature effects supervisorNick Dudman created several practical hippogriffs for the production, while Burke and Guyett oversaw the creation of the computer-generated version. Guyett cited the complex movement of the feathers as an achievement that had "never been done before."[57]
The inflation of Aunt Marge was achieved practically. Ferris said, "I wore various prosthetic bodies, which inflated at different rates, and at my largest, I was about four and a half feet wide." The 50 pounds (23 kg) costume prevented Ferris from walking and eating. Thirty-eight tweed suits of increasing size were used for the sequence.[57]
Cinesite was in charge of the time travel shot featured in the film, which was over a minute long. The main action was filmed on asteadicam againstbluescreen, and four minutes of background footage was shot separately. The background was then sped up and composited behind the main action. Two other plates of background footage were tiled together as the camera turned.[60]
When it was announced that Cuarón would directPrisoner of Azkaban, there was initial speculation that his collaborative composerPatrick Doyle (who would score the following film) would do the music. Cuarón, however, retainedJohn Williams, for whom it would be the third and final movie he scored in the series. The soundtrack was a significant departure from the previous two, as Cuarón wanted the score to take a different approach.[71] One of the new themes, "Double Trouble", was written during production for a children's choir to perform in Hogwarts's Great Hall in one of the film's earlier scenes.[72] The lyrics of the song were taken fromWilliam Shakespeare'sMacbeth.[72] The soundtrack album was released byAtlantic Records on 25 May 2004.[71]
Prisoner of Azkaban was, at the time of publication, the series' longest book. The increasing plot complexity necessitated a looser adaptation of the book's finer plot lines and back-story. The connection between Harry's father and the Marauder's Map is only briefly mentioned,[73] as is Remus Lupin's association to the map.[74] Additionally, it was never mentioned who the Marauders were or who the nicknames Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs referred to. Someexposition was removed for dramatic effect: both the Shrieking Shack and Scabbers the rat are mentioned only very briefly in the film, while they receive more thorough coverage in the novel.[73] Most of Sirius Black's back story is also cut, with no mention of how he escaped fromAzkaban.[74]
On account of pace and time considerations, the film glosses over detailed descriptions of magical education. Only one Hippogriff, Buckbeak, is seen, and only Draco Malfoy and Harry are seen interacting with the Hippogriff during Care of Magical Creatures lessons.[75] Most other lessons, including all ofSnape'sPotions classes, were cut from the film.[73] The Fidelius Charm's complicated description is removed entirely from the film, with no explanation given of exactly how Sirius is supposed to have betrayed the Potters to Lord Voldemort.[76] Many of this scene's lines are redistributed amongst Cornelius Fudge andMinerva McGonagall; in compensation, McGonagall's exposition of the Animagus transformation is instead given by Snape.[73]
The romantic connection between Ron and Hermione is more prominent in the film than the 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.[73] However, any mention of Harry's crush onCho Chang is removed,[77] and she first appears in thefourth film.[78]Prisoner of Azkaban also shows a darker tone and more of Harry's emotions. For instance, after learning of Black's "betrayal" of Harry's parents, he shouts in anger "I'm gonna kill him",[79] whereas in the book he is "too stunned to move".[73]
In the book, Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup for the first time in the series, a rather significant character-development subplot that is almost completely omitted from the film.[80] Only the first Quidditch match of the school year (where Harry's Nimbus 2000 broomstick is destroyed) is part of the film's narrative, and there are no other mentions of the sport or the Gryffindor team's successful campaign for the Cup during the rest of the film. The final scene before the credits shows Harry on his new broomstick, the Firebolt, as a known gift from Sirius after his aided escape from captivity, whereas in the book, the new broomstick is an anonymous gift midyear from Sirius (unbeknownst to Harry or anyone else at the time) that is examined by the Hogwarts staff for safety and security reasons before it eventually is given to Harry for use in pursuit of the Cup championship.
As with the series' previous instalments,Prisoner of Azkaban was a large merchandising opportunity.[81] Thevideo game version, designed byEA UK, was released on 25 May 2004.[82]Mattel released film tie-ins that included theHarry Potter Championship Quidditch board game and character action figures.[83]Lego also expanded on its previous merchandising for the first two films with the release of sets that included the Knight Bus, Shrieking Shack and a new Hogwarts castle.[84]
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was released onDVD and onVHS on 23 November 2004.[85] The 2-disc Special Editions later came out on DVD andBlu-ray on 4 October 2016.[86][87] The film was also released onUltra HD Blu-ray on 7 November 2017.[88]
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban held its New York premiere atRadio City Music Hall on 23 May 2004,[89] followed by its London premiere atLeicester Square on 30 May 2004.[90] The film then opened in the United Kingdom on 31 May 2004,[91] and on 4 June 2004 in the United States.[92] It was the first film in the series to be released in both conventional andIMAX theatres.[92] Upon release, the film broke the record for a biggest single day in the United Kingdom's box office history making £5.3million on a Monday.[93] It went on to break records both with and without previews, making £23.9 million including previews[94] and £9.3 million excluding them.[95]The Prisoner of Azkaban had the highest-opening weekend at the UK's box office, untilSpectre beat the record in 2015. It went on to make a total of £45.6million in the UK.[96] The film made $93.7million during its opening weekend in the United States and Canada playing on 8,900 screens at 3,855 theaters, achieving, at the time, the third-biggest-opening weekend of all time.[97] This opening also brokeHulk's record ($62.1million) for the highest-opening weekend for a film released in June.[97]The Prisoner of Azkaban held this record for five years untilTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen topped it in 2009 with $109million.[98] Additionally, it surpassedThe Matrix Reloaded for having the largest opening weekend for aWarner Bros. film.[97] The film was also No. 1 at the North American box office for two consecutive weekends.[99]
The Prisoner of Azkaban made a total of $808.5million worldwide,[4] which made it 2004's second-highest-grossing film worldwide behindShrek 2.[100] In the U.S. and Canada, it was only the year'ssixth-highest-grossing film, making $250.1million.[101] However, it was the year's number one film internationally, making $558.3million compared toShrek 2's $487.5million.[102] Despite its successful box office run,The Prisoner of Azkaban is the lowest-grossingHarry Potter film, andthe third lowest-grossing film of the Wizarding World series.[103][104][105]
OnRotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 91% based on 264 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads, "Under the assured direction of Alfonso Cuarón,Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban triumphantly strikes a delicate balance between technical wizardry and complex storytelling."[106] OnMetacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 40 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[107] Audiences polled byCinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[108]
Mick LaSalle of theSan Francisco Chronicle lauded the film's more mature tone and said it was "darker, more complex, rooted in character."[109]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 instalments.[110]Peter Travers ofRolling 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."[111] Stephanie Zacharek ofSalon considered it "one of the greatest fantasy films of all time."[112] Nicole Arthur ofThe Washington Post praised the film as "complex, frightening, [and] nuanced."[113] Film criticRoger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half out of four stars, saying that the film was not quite as good as the first two, but still called it "delightful, amusing and sophisticated". He praised the cast, but felt the need for a better plot.[114] Claudia Puig fromUSA Today found the film to be "a visual delight," and added that "Cuarón is not afraid to make a darker film and tackle painful emotions";[115] whileRichard Roeper called the film "a creative triumph."[116] Sean Smith fromNewsweek said: "The Prisoner of Azkaban boasts a brand-new director and a bold new vision," and called the film "moving," praising the performances by the three main leads.[117]Entertainment Weekly praised the film for being more mature than its predecessors.[118]
The Guardian gave the film 3 stars out of 5, saying, "This new Harry Potter picture will cast a spell on its fanbase. But the broomstick's losing altitude."[119]Screen Daily commented, "Cuaron delivers a genuinely spooky and emotionally involving adventure which gives the world ofPotter much-needed character and atmosphere".[120] TheBBC commended the sets and direction, but did not find it "emotionally engrossing".[121]Hollywood.com gave a positive review, praising the plot and storyline, despite a deviation from the first two films.[122]
The film ranks atNo. 471 inEmpire magazine's 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time.[128]IGN designatedPrisoner of Azkaban as the fifth best fantasy film.[129] Additionally,Moviefone designated the film as the tenth best of the decade.[130] In 2011, the film was voted Film of the Decade at the First Light Awards by children aged 5–15.[131] TheAmerican Film Institute nominated it for the 2007 revision ofAFI's 100 Years...100 Movies,[132] and forAFI's 10 Top 10 in the fantasy genre.[133]
David Evans,Richard Beggs, Derek Trigg, Andy Kennedy, Jon Olive, Bjorn Ole Schroeder, Sam Southwick, Stefan Henrix, Tony Currie, Nick Lowe, Stuart Morton
^Thomas, Scott (1 April 2007). "November 2003".The Making of the Potterverse: A Month-by-Month Look at Harry's First 10 Years.ECW Press. p. 118.ISBN978-1550227635.Toward the end of the month, filming wrapped onPrisoner of Azkaban
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
