Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 epic fantasy film directed by Alfonso Cuarón from a screenplay by Steve Kloves. It is based on the 1999 novel Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling. It is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) and the third instalment in the Harry Potter film series. The film stars Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, alongside Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, respectively. The film follows Harry's third year at Hogwarts and his quest to uncover the truth about his past, including the connection recently escaped Azkaban prisoner Sirius Black has to Harry and his deceased parents.
With this film, the Harry Potter series switched to a longer eighteen-month production cycle. Cuarón was selected as director from a list that included Callie Khouri and Kenneth Branagh. The cast of previous films returned for Prisoner, with the additions of Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, Timothy Spall, and Emma Thompson, among others. It was the first appearance of Michael Gambon as Professor Albus Dumbledore, due to Richard Harris's death in 2002. Principal photography began in February 2003 at Leavesden 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 by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was the first Harry Potter film to use IMAX Technology and was released in IMAX theaters. Prisoner of Azkaban grossed a total of $808 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2004, behind Shrek 2. The film received widespread acclaim from critics, with particular praise for the cinematography and Cuarón's direction; it has been credited with shifting the tone of the franchise. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, Best Original Music Score and Best Visual Effects, at the 77th Academy Awards in 2004. It was followed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in 2005.
Plot
During another unhappy summer with the Dursleys, Harry Potter becomes enraged when Vernon's sister Marge viciously insults his parents and provokes him to inflate her and float away. Expecting to be expelled from Hogwarts for using magic outside school, Harry runs away but is picked up by the Knight Bus and taken to The Leaky Cauldron, where Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge assures Harry that he will not face punishment. Upon reuniting with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry learns that Sirius Black, an alleged supporter of Lord Voldemort, has escaped Azkaban prison and is expected to come after Harry.
While journeying to Hogwarts, the Hogwarts Express is boarded by Dementors, ghostly prison guards searching for Black; one of them causes Harry to faint, but the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin, repels it using a Patronus Charm. At Hogwarts, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore announces that Dementors will patrol the school until Black is captured. Hagrid is appointed as the Care of Magical Creatures teacher, but his first class goes awry when Draco Malfoy provokes a hippogriff named Buckbeak to attack him; as a result, Draco's father has Buckbeak sentenced to death.
Hogwarts is put on high alert when the portrait of The Fat Lady warns that Black is in the castle and attempted to break into Gryffindor Tower. The Dementors attack Harry during a Quidditch match, but he is saved by Dumbledore, although his broomstick is destroyed; Harry's sensitivity to the Dementors prompts him to ask Lupin to teach him the Patronus Charm. Harry, unable to visit Hogsmeade Village without permission from his guardians, attempts to sneak out of the castle but is caught by Fred and George Weasley, who provide him with the Marauder's Map, which shows him a secure passage to Hogsmeade. Above The Three Broomsticks pub, he overhears Professor Minerva McGonagall, pub owner Madam Rosmerta and Fudge discuss how Black is Harry's godfather, divulged the Potters' whereabouts to Voldemort, and murdered their mutual friend Peter 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 the Shrieking Shack, where the dog is revealed to be Black, an Animagus. Lupin appears in the shack, where he is revealed to be an old friend of Black and a werewolf. Lupin and Black reveal that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, is actually the Animagus form of Pettigrew, who is returned to human form and revealed to'd 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 humanoid wolf; amid the chaos, Pettigrew turns back into a rat and escapes. Black transforms into his dog form and fights off werewolf Lupin, who seriously injures Black. Harry finds Black but the Dementors arrive and brutally 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 the Dementor's Kiss. With Dumbledore's advice, Harry and Hermione use her Time-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, Severus Snape having exposed his secret condition as a werewolf. Harry receives a new Firebolt broomstick from Black.
Cast
Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter: A 13-year-old British wizard famous for surviving his parents' murder at the hands of the evil dark wizard Lord Voldemort as an infant, who now enters his third year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley: Harry's best friend at Hogwarts and a younger member of the Weasley wizarding family. Emma Watson as Hermione Granger: Harry's other best friend and the trio's brains. Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid: The gamekeeper and new Care of Magical Creatures teacher at Hogwarts. Michael Gambon as Albus Dumbledore:The headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the greatest wizards of all time. Gambon assumed the role after Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the previous two films, died of Hodgkin's disease on 25 October 2002, three weeks before the second film's release. Despite his illness, Harris was determined to film his part, telling a visiting David Heyman not to recast the role. Four months after Harris's death, Cuarón chose Gambon as his replacement. 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. He completed his scenes in three weeks. The producers originally offered the role to Ian McKellen, but McKellen turned it down as he had played a similar character Gandalf in The 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. Christopher Lee was also considered; he later said that it would have been in very "bad taste" if he was offered the role. Harris' family had expressed an interest in seeing Harris's close friend Peter O'Toole being chosen as his replacement, but the producers felt that his age and health would become troublesome down the line. 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. Richard Griffiths as Vernon Dursley: Harry's Muggle uncle. Gary Oldman as Sirius Black:Harry's infamous godfather, who escapes from the Wizarding prison Azkaban after serving twelve years there for being wrongly accused of being the Death 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. He was "surprised by how difficult it was to pull off", comparing the role to Shakespearean dialogue. Alan Rickman as Severus Snape: The Potions teacher at Hogwarts and head of Slytherin. Fiona Shaw as Petunia Dursley: Harry's Muggle aunt. Maggie Smith as Minerva McGonagall: Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts, the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts and head of Gryffindor. Timothy Spall as Peter 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. David Thewlis as Professor Lupin:The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and a werewolf. Robin Williams was interested in the role, but was turned down due to the "British only" cast rule. Thewlis, who had previously auditioned for the role of Quirinus Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), was Cuarón's first choice for the role of Professor Lupin. He accepted the role on advice from Ian Hart, who was cast as Quirrell, and had told him that Professor Lupin was "the best part in the book." 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. Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney: The Divination teacher at Hogwarts. Tilda Swinton was offered the role, but turned it down. Julie Walters as Molly Weasley: Ron's mother. Bonnie Wright as Ginny Weasley
Several actors from the previous film reprise their roles in Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry Melling appears as Dudley Dursley, Harry's Muggle cousin. James and Oliver Phelps play Fred and George Weasley, Ron's twin brothers; Chris Rankin appears as Percy Weasley, Ron's other brother and a Hogwarts head boy; while Mark Williams plays their father, Arthur Weasley. Tom Felton portrays Draco Malfoy, Harry's rival in Slytherin, while Jamie Waylett and Josh Herdman appear as Crabbe and Goyle, Draco's minions. Matthew Lewis and Devon Murray play Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnigan respectively, two Gryffindor students in Harry's year. David Bradley appears as Argus Filch, Hogwarts' caretaker, while Robert Hardy portrays Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic.
Pam Ferris portrays Aunt Marge, Vernon's sister; Lee Ingleby plays Stan Shunpike, conductor of the Knight Bus; and Jim Tavaré appears as Tom, innkeeper of The Leaky Cauldron, replacing Derek Deadman from the first film. Dawn French plays the Fat Lady, a painting at Hogwarts, replacing Elizabeth Spriggs from the first film. Julie Christie appears as Madam Rosmerta, the barmaid at the Three Broomsticks. Warwick Davis appears as the conductor of the Hogwarts choir. The role was offered to him by producer David Heyman due to Filius Flitwick, Davis' original role, being absent from the script. The change in appearance for the new character later became Flitwick's look for the rest of the series. Lenny Henry and Paul Whitehouse have voice cameos as a shrunken head on the Knight Bus and painting subject Sir Cadogan, respectively.
Production Development