Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1 Viewer)

[Adam_S]

June 4th?!
Delightful. Undoubtably all the Entertainment shows/magazines will be worried because June 4th is NEVER a big weekend and after all the audience decides what movie to see based on the weekend of release and not whether or not they actually want to see it!
first weekend of June will be relatively slow this year, but that all important 'record' for highest grossing movie released in the first weekend of June will fall.
I think Azkaban has the first real shot at unseating Spidey's opening weekend record. To those that say nay, based on movie two's gross, I say that popular opinion is generally that two is the weakest (not my opinion) and its an even split (just slightly in favor of Azkaban) between three or four being the best book. The fans will be out in legions matched only by the numbers of fans that will be visiting bookstores in a month or so.
I really wouldn't mind quidditch being dropped, Columbus did a good job out of making them into an action set piece, but they feel more like lyrical interludes than important to the plot. And he never established clearly that the snitch is worth 150 and the quaffle worth ten, so everyone who hadn't read the books thinks the only thing in the game that matters is the snitch. And as someone else said, there's never been the impression they were season long events. I don't think the quidditch cup has even been mentioned in movies one or two.
Adam

 

[Dan Hitchman]

My God am I glad that Columbus dropped out as director. It was the single biggest mistake WB did when they hired such a by-the-book, paint-by-numbers director. The first two movies lacked a certain something for that repeat-viewing factor real classics have in spades.

Terry Gilliam would have been great IMHO (Rowling thought so too), but the new director's knack for going against the grain is a welcomed change of pace.

Who did the screenplay this time, and will our new director be doing the next few films as well, or will they continue to change the style for each film with a new director?

Dan

 

[oscar_merkx]

here is news that John Williams is returning as composer for the third picture
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/15...Potter_+.shtml

 

[Jeff Kleist]

And he never established clearly that the snitch is worth 150 and the quaffle worth ten,

Yes he did. He showed the scoreboard going up by 10, and they specifically said "150 points" for the snitch.

As long as the new director doesn't invent scenes or change things, I'm OK with it. I'm hoping that it's still on the 2 hour+ length, and that this guy will eliminate any of the sickly sweet stuff (Chamber's ending) that Columbus loves.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

My God am I glad that Columbus dropped out as director. It was the single biggest mistake WB did when they hired such a by-the-book, paint-by-numbers director. The first two movies lacked a certain something for that repeat-viewing factor real classics have in spades.

I hear you Dan. The strict adherence to the books in the first 2 movies really squashes any excitement that film can bring to a book.

Use the visual nature of film to enhance the descriptive parts of the book - but please don't repeat verbatim what is on the printed page.

Each medium has their own strengths.

Use them.

 

[JonZ]

Word is Daniel Radcliffe wont be back after POA.

 

[Adam_S]

And many, many people missed that the snitch was worth 150 because Columbus decided to 'spread out' the Quidditch explanation. When Wood is showing Harry the quidditch balls and explaining the game, he distinctly says, "this is the snitch, catch it and you win the game" or something to that effect. That the snitch doesn't automatically make you a winner was NEVER clearly established, because while their score goes up 150 points and the announcer mentions 150 points quickly and in passing, it's a very brief thing most people don't notice because they're excited from the quidditch match and gryffindor's win.
There've been quite a lot of people at HTF that haven't read the books that have thought that quidditch was stupid because the only thing that mattered was the snitch (and therefore Harry), and the rest of the game was meaningless.
Sad to see Radcliffe go, I just hope he's legitimately leaving for the reasons he says he is, and not because warner's doesn't want to pay him the extravagant salary of 5 million or more ([sarcasm]How COULD warners' possibly make a profit on such enormous unreasonable salaries?[/sarcasm])
Adam

 

[EdHoch]

I wonder what Nigel Terry looks like now? "King Arthur" of Excalibur as Voldemort...

 

[Dave Gilbert]

I read yesterday (can't remember where, sorry) that Daniel Radcliffe WILL be back for Goblet of Fire. There were rumors that he would have to drop out because his grades were suffering, but his mother denied this.

 

[David Forbes]

As long as the new director doesn't invent scenes or change things, I'm OK with it.

Wow, you're giving him quite a bit of latitude to work with! "Don't change anything and I'll be fine." So he's only allowed changes by elimination, I suppose? Even if other scenes might need to be condensed or reshuffled to make things clearer?

 

[oscar_merkx]

this is the fourth time we are hearing that Daniel will not be back, so wait and see I suppose

 

[Moe Maishlish]

I've been reading through the 5th Book (almost done... about 200 pages to go, so no spoilers PLEASE... ), and I was thinking to myself that Sean Connery would be a great fit to play Moody in the 4th film!
Anyone else with me on this one, or have I had one too many aspirin?
Moe.

 

[Joe Wong]

Moe,

I always thought a great person to play Moody (if he was still alive and the right age) would have been Marty Feldman. Anyone agree?

Joe

 

[Ricardo C]

Great to finally have a release date set in stone Can't wait

 

[Kristoffer]

Can't wait either! The third is my favorite so far!! Haven't finished the fifth yet...
I just hope that John Williams turns in a better score than for TCOS!

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I just saw Lost In La Mancha and its supplements all the way through.

Salman Rushdie interviewed Terry Gilliam at a Telluride Film Festival, and Harry Potter was brought up.

He hinted that J.K. Rowling had wanted him in the first place because she was leaning towards a more Python-esque approach (Gilliam had noted while reading the books himself that she had been influenced by Monty Python and British sitcoms) and that Gilliam said he could do this in his sleep and wanted a crack at it.

The younger Warner Bros. brass supposedly had wanted him after he was flown to L.A. for a presentation where he wowed them with his visionary skills (I'd assume it would have had Brazil & Time Bandits' dark yet whimsical style with Gilliam's trade mark artistic style), but the top money men wanted to take a by-the-book, take-no-chances approach instead because they saw this as a machine-like franchise rather than a piece of art. Gilliam knew they weren't going to hire him.

When asked what would Harry Potter [films] have been like with him at the helm, he snickered: "It would have been better." The room burst out laughing and some people clapped. I agree with them too.

I just hope this third film returns to the books' whimsy and tongue-in-cheek approach. They were written for Terry Gilliam and Monty Python type humor anyway. The first two drained all the magic out of them and shame on Chris Columbus for his lack of vision! Somehow I doubt we'll get Rowling's vision though as the studio heads will have this project by the balls.

Dan

 

[Dan Hitchman]

I just saw Lost In La Mancha and its supplements all the way through.

Salman Rushdie interviewed Terry Gilliam at a Telluride Film Festival, and Harry Potter was brought up.

He hinted that J.K. Rowling had wanted him in the first place because she was leaning towards a more Python-esque approach (Gilliam had noted while reading the books himself that she had been influenced by Monty Python and British sitcoms) and that Gilliam said he could do this in his sleep and wanted a crack at it.

The younger Warner Bros. brass supposedly had wanted him after he was flown to L.A. for a presentation where he wowed them with his visionary skills (I'd assume it would have had Brazil & Time Bandits' dark yet whimsical style with Gilliam's trade mark artistic style), but the top money men wanted to take a by-the-book, take-no-chances approach instead because they saw this as a machine-like franchise rather than a piece of art. Gilliam knew they weren't going to hire him.

When asked what would Harry Potter [films] have been like with him at the helm, he snickered: "It would have been better." The room burst out laughing and some people clapped. I agree with them too.

I just hope this third film returns to the books' whimsy and tongue-in-cheek approach. They were written for Terry Gilliam and Monty Python type humor anyway. The first two drained all the magic out of them and shame on Chris Columbus for his inability to out fox the executives! Somehow I doubt we'll get Rowling's vision though as the studio heads will have this project by the balls.

Dan

 

[Moe Maishlish]

Joe,

I've always envisioned Moody as a grissled, battle-scared & brooding character, with very little sense of humor. Although Marty Feldman might have looked the part with those buggy-eyes & hook-nose, I don't know if I would have believed he could inhabit the character. Then again, he died over 20 years ago, so who knows what may have been.

Moe.

 

[Adam_S]

Sorry but anyone who has seen _Legends of the Fall_ would know that Anthony Hopkins is absolutely perfect to play Moody.

 

[Joe Wong]

Adam,
Hopkins could work
Joe