Prisoner of Azkaban speculation

[Sinistra]

This thread is for general discussion of the the third film - the effects, actors, characters, and anything else you can think about. I thought it might be necessary because the thread about the Chamber of Secrets film was beginning to turn into a discussion about dementors.

Sinistra :rain:

[Dave]

Mexican newspapers El Norte, Mural and T1 MSN report that Alfonso Cuaron ("Y Tu Mama Tambien") has confirmed that he and Warners have come to a formal agreement that he'll helm the third film in the series.

[Sinistra]

excuse me if this sounds thick, but what does 'helm' mean?

[Dave]

He is a 'not very' famous director, so I expect that it means direct.

I don't know why the news report said 'helm', the journalist was probably just getting bored printing the same things.

Christopher Columbus has definitely said no to this, so they have been looking for someone else for some time.

I read recently that Stephen Spielberg was offerred 'Philosophers Stone' but turned it down.

[Dave]

This has now been confirmed by Variety. They are still using this 'helm' thing....

Report from SciFi Wire:

Cuaron To Helm Potter III

Mexican-born director Alfonso Cuaron will direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the third movie in the popular franchise, Variety reported. Cuaron (A Little Princess) steps in for Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Potter movies, but said he would pull out after completing the upcoming second film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. The movies are all based on J.K. Rowling's best-selling Potter novels.

Production on Azkaban is scheduled to begin in England in the first quarter of 2003, the trade paper reported. Azkaban will introduce new characters to the universe of Hogwarts and Harry Potter. David Heyman, Columbus and Mark Radcliffe will produce the film, which is slated for release in summer 2004, the trade paper reported.

[Sinistra]

Thanks for that Dave, I foulnd something pretty similar when I was reading teletext the other day...so no point in posting it... dont think there's any new info in it...

Sini :rain:

[Sinistra]

'Prisoner of Azkaban' faces delay

26 March 2003


Production on ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban‘ could be delayed due to a dispute over pay and conditions by construction personnel working on the film. Unless the matter is resolved, hundreds of set painters, builders and carpenters could down tools on Friday, also meaning production on ‘Thunderbirds‘ and ‘Troy‘ would be halted too. Workers are unhappy that pay has not increased since 1999, with many of them working a fifty–hour plus week which in some European countries is illegal. Film producers are currently in negotiations with workers‘ unions to prevent a strike…


www.msn.co.uk

[Dave]

from Scifi Wire

Thompson Talks Potter

Emma Thompson told the Empire Online Web site that she had specific ideas about her character, divination professor Sybil Trelawney, in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film. "She was so much fun to play," Thompson told the site. "I decided that, since she was someone who saw into the future, she had to be someone who couldn’t see anything at all in the present. Like where she was going, her clothing, anything."

Thompson added, "I decided to dress her slightly differently, and had wonderful cooperation from my director [Alfonso Cuarón] and designer and everything." Prisoner of Azkaban opens June 4.

Thompson, meanwhile, will play the title role in Nanny McPhee, her self-penned adaptation of the Nurse Matilda series by Christina Brand, the site reported. McPhee is a governess who uses magic to quell seven extremely naughty children. Colin Firth is in talks to play the father, the site added. Shooting starts on April 1 in London.

[Dave]

from Scifi Wire

Columbus Relinquishes Potter

Chris Columbus, who directed the first two Harry Potter movies, told SCI FI Wire that he's not disturbed at all to hear that director Alfonso Cuaron's upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is being called the best film yet in the series. "Well, no, because then you're really into it for a whole other reason, as opposed to just wanting to make really great films," Columbus said in an interview. "The desire was to just survive the making of Sorcerer's Stone and put the world together and a cast and create the whole world." Columbus produced Prisoner of Azkaban and had a hand in selecting Cuaron to helm.

Columbus added, "The second film [Chamber of Secrets] was a whole lot more fun to make. The kids [Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint] were better as actors. So they were able to get through a couple of lines. Not an entire sequence, but a couple of lines and almost one shot. Then, to see them graduate to this film, it's a wonderful thing. You see these kids doing an entire scene in one shot and you realize, 'My God, they've actually come this far. They're actually professional actors.' So it's a real sense of pride. I love the visual look of the movie. I love the visual style. I love that we improved the visual effects. It was always our goal to make a better film each time out. So had we done anything less, I'd have felt that we hadn't succeeded."

Prisoner of Azkaban marks Columbus' Potter swan song for the moment. Though he's open to directing another Harry Potter film down the line, he is not producing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the upcoming fourth installment, which is in production now in England, with Mike Newell directing. Instead, Columbus is attached to direct a feature version of the Broadway show Rent and will co-produce a big-screen adaptation of The Fantastic Four. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, based on the third of J.K. Rowling's best-selling books, will be released June 4.

[timdgreat]

nice info dave,

well i just got my tickets yesterday, gonna see it opening morning, and then latter that afternoon again with mom :rolly2:

[jerrylewis]

It has released on my brother's birthday.So we enjoyed it like our party and enjoyed it very much.The book was also good.I have the book of this story.