Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) facts for kids

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Quick facts for kids Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Alfonso Cuarón
Screenplay by	Steve Kloves
Starring	Daniel Radcliffe Rupert Grint Emma Watson Robbie Coltrane Michael Gambon Richard Griffiths Gary Oldman Alan Rickman Fiona Shaw Maggie Smith Timothy Spall David Thewlis Emma Thompson Julie Walters
Music by	John Williams
Cinematography	Michael Seresin
Editing by	Steven Weisberg
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	23 May 2004 (2004-05-23) (Radio City Music Hall) 31 May 2004 (2004-05-31) (United Kingdom) 4 June 2004 (2004-06-04) (United States)
Running time	142 minutes
Country	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$130 million
Money made	$796.7 million

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 fantasy film directed by Alfonso Cuarón and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, based on J. K. Rowling's 1999 novel of the same name. Produced by Chris Columbus, David Heyman, and Mark Radcliffe and written by Steve Kloves, 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, with Rupert Grint as Ron Weasley, and Emma Watson as Hermione Granger. Its story follows Harry Potter's third year at Hogwarts as he is informed that a prisoner named Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban and intends to kill him.

With Prisoner of Azkaban, production of the Harry Potter films switched to an eighteen-month cycle. Cuarón was selected as director from a shortlist that included Callie Khouri and Kenneth Branagh. The cast of previous instalments returned for the film, with the additions of Gary Oldman, David Thewlis, and Emma Thompson, among others. It was the first appearance of Michael Gambon as Professor Albus Dumbledore, due to Richard Harris' 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 concluded in November 2003.

The film was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom, and on 4 June 2004 in North America, as the first Harry Potter film using IMAX Technology and released into IMAX theatres. Prisoner of Azkaban grossed a total of $796.7 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 2004, and received praise for Cuarón's direction and the lead actors' performances. The film is credited for marking a notable change in the franchise's tone and directorial style, and is often considered by critics and fans alike to be one of the best Harry Potter films. 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
Cast
Differences from the book
Distribution
Images for kids
See also

Plot

Harry Potter has been spending another unhappy summer with the Dursleys. When Aunt Marge Dursley insults his parents, he loses his temper and accidentally causes her to inflate like a balloon and float away. Fed up, Harry then flees the Dursleys with his broom and trunk. The Knight Bus arrives and takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, where he is pardoned by Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge for using magic outside of Hogwarts. After reuniting with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry learns that Sirius Black, a convicted supporter of the dark wizard Lord Voldemort, has escaped Azkaban prison and intends to kill him.

The trio return to Hogwarts for the school year on the Hogwarts Express train, which is suddenly boarded by dementors, ghostly prison guards that are searching for Sirius. One enters the trio's compartment, causing Harry to pass out, but new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher Remus Lupin repels the dementor with a Patronus Charm. At Hogwarts, headmaster Albus Dumbledore announces that dementors will be guarding the school until Sirius is captured. Hogwarts groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid is announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher; his first class goes badly when Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes the hippogriff Buckbeak, who then attacks him. Draco exaggerates his injury, and his father Lucius Malfoy later has Buckbeak sentenced to death.

The Fat Lady's portrait, which guards the Gryffindor rooms, is found ruined and empty. Terrified and hiding in another painting, she tells Dumbledore that Sirius has entered the castle. During a stormy Quidditch match against Hufflepuff, dementors attack Harry, causing him to fall off his broomstick which lands at the Whomping Willow, where it is destroyed. At Hogsmeade, Harry is shocked to learn that not only had Sirius been his father's best friend and apparently betrayed them to Voldemort, but is also Harry's godfather. Lupin privately teaches Harry to defend himself against dementors using the Patronus Charm.

After Harry, Ron, and Hermione witness Buckbeak's apparent execution, Ron's pet rat Scabbers bites him and escapes. When Ron gives chase, a large dog appears and drags both Ron and Scabbers into a hole at the Whomping Willow's base. This leads the trio to an underground passage to the Shrieking Shack, where they discover that the dog is actually Sirius, who is an Animagus. Lupin arrives and embraces Sirius as an old friend. He admits to being a werewolf, and explains that Sirius is innocent. Sirius was falsely accused of betraying the Potters to Voldemort, as well as murdering twelve Muggles and their mutual friend, Peter Pettigrew. It is revealed that Scabbers is actually Pettigrew, an Animagus who betrayed the Potters and committed the murders.

Severus Snape arrives to apprehend Black but Harry knocks him unconscious with the Expelliarmus charm. After forcing Pettigrew back into human form, Lupin and Sirius prepare to kill him, but Harry convinces them to turn Pettigrew over to the dementors.

As the group departs, the full moon rises and Lupin transforms into a werewolf. Sirius transforms into his dog form to fight him off. In the midst of the chaos, Pettigrew transforms back into a rat and escapes. Harry and Sirius are attacked by dementors, and Harry sees a figure in the distance save them by casting a powerful Patronus spell. He believes the mysterious figure is his deceased father before passing out. He awakens to discover that Sirius has been captured and sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss.

Acting on Dumbledore's advice, Harry and Hermione travel back in time using Hermione's Time Turner, and watch themselves and Ron repeat the night's events. They save Buckbeak from execution and witness the Dementors overpower Harry and Sirius. The present Harry realises that it was actually himself who conjured the Patronus, and does so again. Harry and Hermione rescue Sirius, who escapes with Buckbeak. Exposed as a werewolf, Lupin resigns from teaching to prevent an uproar from parents. He also returns the Marauder's Map to Harry, as he no longer has the authority to confiscate contraband. Sirius sends Harry a Firebolt broom, and he happily takes it for a ride.

Cast

For more details, see List of Harry Potter cast members

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. Rumours of Ian McKellen being offered the role started to spread, but when asked he rejected the rumours and stated he had played a similar character in Gandalf of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also stated it would have been inappropriate to take Harris's role, as he had called McKellen a "dreadful" actor. Harris's family had expressed an interest in seeing Harris's close friend Peter O'Toole being chosen as his replacement.
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 falsely 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 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 Remus Lupin:
The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts and a werewolf. 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 after taking the role he read the third.
Emma Thompson as Sybill Trelawney: The Divination teacher at Hogwarts.
Julie Walters as Molly Weasley: Ron's mother.

Several actors from the previous film reprise their roles in Prisoner of Azkaban. Harry Melling appears as Dudley Dursley, Harry's 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; and Bonnie Wright portrays their sister Ginny, while Mark Williams plays their father, Arthur Weasley. Tom Felton portrays Draco Malfoy, Harry's rival in Slytherin, while Jamie Waylett and Joshua 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.

Differences from the book

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 parents and the Marauder's Map is only briefly mentioned, as is Remus Lupin's association to the map. Additionally, it was never mentioned who the Marauders were or who the nicknames Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs referred to. Some exposition was removed for dramatic effect: both the Shrieking Shack and Scabbers the rat are mentioned only very briefly in the film, while they receive a more thorough coverage in the novel. Most of Sirius Black's back story is also cut, with no mention of how he escaped from Azkaban.

On account of pace and time considerations, the film glosses over detailed descriptions of magical education. Only one Hippogriff, Buckbeak, is seen, and only Malfoy and Harry are seen interacting with the Hippogriff during Care of Magical Creatures lessons, and most other lessons, including all of Snape's Potions classes, were cut from the film. 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. Many of this scene's lines are redistributed amongst Cornelius Fudge and Minerva McGonagall; in compensation, McGonagall's exposition of the Animagus transformation is instead given by Snape.

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. However, any mention of Harry's crush on Cho Chang is removed, and she first appears in the fourth film. Prisoner of Azkaban 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", whereas in the book he's "too stunned to move".