"If we turn our heads and look away and hope that it will all disappear then they will - all of them, an entire generation of people. And we will have only history left to judge us."
Steven Spielberg was rumored to be directing this movie.
Director Chris Columbus opted out of directing the third installment, citing that he missed his family and
wanted to spend more time with them. He says he is very open to the idea of directing the fourth Potter
film.
Other directors reportedly considered for this installment of the Harry Potter series included Callie
Khouri and Kenneth Branagh.
After the death of Richard Harris, many actors were considered for the vacant role of Albus Dumbledore.
Christopher Lee was in the frame for a while, and there was a rumor (reported in many newspapers) that Ian
McKellen was also considered. Michael Gambon finally got the role.
Ewan McGregor was considered for the role of Prof. Lupin.
The effects team spent six months creating the dementors.
Honeydukes "is floor-to-ceiling psychedelia" and includes Mexican skulls made of sugar. The cast was told
that the Honeydukes candy was lacquer-coated, when in fact it wasn't, to prevent candy from disappearing
between takes.
Illusionist Paul Kieve served as a consultant. He taught magic to several members of the cast including
Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson (Hermione and Harry) and worked extensively to create physical magical
effects. He is the first illusionist to have worked on any of the series of films. He is also to make a
cameo appearance in the film in a scene in the Three Broomsticks pub.
Filming was halted following the vandalization of the train used as the Hogwarts Express.
The set for Honeydukes was previously been used for Olivander's Wand Shop in Harry Potter and the
Sorceror's Stone (2001).
The film was offered to director 'Guillermo Del Toro' but he opted to do Hellboy (2004) instead.
Emma Thompson accepted the role of Professor Trelawney to impress her four year old daughter, Gaia.
Gary Oldman says he accepted the role of Sirius Black because he "needed the work". He hadn't acted for over a year. His last film was Sin (2003/I), which was filmed in 2002.
Director Cuarón coached Daniel Radcliffe in one scene where the latter had to act awed: "Pretend you're seeing Cameron Diaz in a G-string". It worked.
A clause in Cuaron's contract forbade the director from cursing in front of the kids on set.
Illusionist Paul Kieve was brought in as a consultant so that some of the magical effects could be done live on the set, and not with computers.
Cameo: [Ian Brown] the singer (formerly of the Stone Roses) appears briefly in the bar at the start of the movie reading "A Brief History of Time". He was originally cast as the pub landlord, but the role was cut right down due to timing issues.
Executive producer 'Chris Columbus (I)' (who directed the first two films) offered the role of director to Alfonso Cuarón after watching Cuarón's Little Princess, A (1995).
When we see the Marauder's Map for the first time, the name 'Newt Scamander' can be seen. In the Harry Potter universe, he wrote the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them", but isn't a teacher at Hogwarts.
The German subsidary of Warner Bros. tried to cut down the film (as they did with Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)) to secure a more commercial "Not under 6" rating. They submitted several versions but all were rejected by the German ratings board FSK for this rating. In the end the uncut version was released with a "Not under 12" rating.
Broke UK box office records when it grossed £5.03 million in its opening day of release on 31 May 2004, making it the biggest opening day and single day of all time.
Warner Brothers supplied ushers at cinemas with night vision goggles to prevent illegal recording and pirating of the film.
On the fountain in the courtyard exit to Hogsmeade, there are several statues of Eagles eating snakes. This is a commemoration to director Alfonso Cuarón and his mexican heritage, as the exact image appears on the Mexican flag.
The rating in the Netherlands for this film is "not under 9". This rating was created especially for the film, since it was judged to be to scary for 6 year olds and the next rating, "not under 12", would exclude to much of the target audience.
Aware of his fondness for music, Gary Oldman presented Daniel Radcliffe with a bass guitar as a gift when they met.
In order to acquaint himself with his three lead actors, director Alfonso Cuarón had each of them write an essay about their characters, from a first-person point of view. Emma Watson, in true Hermione fashion, went a little overboard and wrote an 11 page essay. Daniel Radcliffe wrote a simple one-page summary, and Rupert Grint never even turned his in.
In the scene where Harry is given the Maruader's Map by the Weasley twins, the name "Moony" is misspelled as "Mooney." While not really a mistake, there is still an interesting connection. The film's visual effects supervisor is named Karl Mooney. The spelling was changed deliberately for the in-joke.
The lyrics to the song the choir sings in the Great Hall, "Double, Double; Toil and trouble..." are from Shakespeare's Macbeth (Act 4, Scene 1). In Macbeth, these words are recited by three witches casting a spell to foretell the murderous and treacherous Scottish king's future. As the story goes, Shakespeare "borrowed" these lines from real witches, who in turn cursed the play... the reason why the word "Macbeth" is considered bad luck if uttered in a theatre.
Director Cameo: [Alfonso Cuarón] in a painting scolding Harry for his candle light when the young wizard is searching for Peter Pettigrew in the hallway.
The set for the sequence where Professor Lupin teaches Harry to defend against the dementors previously served as Dumbledore's office in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
When the Boggart takes the form of a giant snake, the "snake pit" theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) is worked into the soundtrack by John Williams who also did the music for that film.
During the credits on the Marauder's Map watch for: Footprints that turn into paw prints; footprints that take special interest in the closing credits' creator; and Hogsmeade landmarks, including the Book of Monster's (sic) Repair Shop and The Stink Bomb Shop.
Director Cameo: [Alfonso Cuarón] the man seated holding two lit candles when Harry enters Madame Rosmerta's Tavern.
Alfonso Cuarón had never read the Harry Potter books or seen the first two movies when he was offered the job of director.
Sir Cadogan, played by Paul Whitehouse, was cut out of the film. His comment in a letter to an autograph collector in June 2004: "I'm afraid I was ruthlessly cut from Harry Potter!"
Another reference to the director's Mexican heritage: as Dumbledore descends the stairs out of sight at the end of the movie, he's humming the "Mexican Hat" song.
Disclaimer: Veritaserum is run by fans and is for the fans. We are in no way official and are not affiliated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., EA Games, Scholastic, or Bloomsbury. We do not own any of the characters in the books, movies, or games.
