1000 Harry Potter Movie Facts E-Book

Mera Wolfe

• Herausgeber: epubli
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 154

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Beschreibung

Think you know everything there is to know about about the Harry Potter films? Well, think again. 1000 Harry Potter Movie Facts contains all you could ever wish to know about this beloved and popular film franchise. From actors and crew, trivia about the filming and locations, alternate ideas for the casting of the characters, people who could have directed the films and lots of other interesting trivia about the wonderful Harry Potter movie series.

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1000Harry PotterMovie Facts

Mera Wolfe© Copyright 2025 Mera Wolfe

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ContentsIntroduction1000 Harry Potter Movie FactsIntroductionThink you know everything there is to know about about the Harry Potter films? Well, think again. 1000 Harry Potter Movie Facts contains all you could ever wish to know about this beloved and popular film franchise.1000 Harry Potter Movie Facts(1) The full list of films in the Harry Potter franchise is as follows - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 (2011). There were also three prequel spin-off films in the form of the Fantastic Beasts franchise. (2) Harry Potter is now a $25 billion franchise, but it had surprisingly humble origins. J.K. Rowling had several rejections from publishers before Harry Potter went into print. These publishers (who must still be kicking themselves) thought that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was a trifle on the long side for a children's book and didn't see anything especially original or marketable in the story. They also, clearly, failed to anticipate the huge global appeal of Harry Potter. (3) Remarkably, the initial Hardback run by Bloomsbury of the first Harry Potter book published only 500 copies. Its eventual success though was nothing short of astonishing. (4) The Harry Potter books are credited with making YA (Young Adult) fiction big business again. The Hunger Games and Twilight books were huge hits and, like Harry Potter, an example of books which were primarily aimed at younger readers but could also be enjoyed by adults. (5) J.K. Rowling sold the film rights to Warner Bros for £1.5 million. This was a tremendous bargain for the studio in hindsight considering how much the films made.(6) J.K. Rowling was somewhat atypical for a novelist in that she insisted on having creative input into the films based on her works. Rowling would exert a strong influence over the casting and direction of the Potter movies. She was very determined that any films should be faithful in spirit to the books. Many authors are cut out of this process and so have little control over how their books are adapted into films or television shows. (7) When the film version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was being planned, Steven Spielberg looked set to direct at one point. Steven Spielberg is the youngest director to ever be given a contract by a major studio and is responsible for some of the highest grossing films of all time (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jurassic Park). He firmly put himself on the map with the television film Duel and his first theatrical feature Sugarland Express but it was of course Jaws in 1975 that made Spielberg a hot ticket and in a position to do anything he wanted to.(8) Steven Spielberg spent around six months developing the first harry Potter film, but his idea in the end to make it as an animated feature was not what the studio or J.K. Rowling wanted. He eventually left the project. "I just felt that I wasn't ready to make an all-kids movie and my kids thought I was crazy," said Spielberg. "And the books were by that time popular, so when I dropped out, I knew it was going to be a phenomenon. But, you know I don't make movies because they're gonna to be phenomenons. I make movies because they have to touch me in a way that really commits me to a year, two years, three years of work." (9) Alan Horn, the president of Warner Bros when the Potter films were first optioned, said that no one there liked Steven Spielberg's idea of mashing up a couple of books into one story and doing it as an animated film. (10) It's probably safe to say that fans of Harry Potter, in hindsight, are relieved that Spielberg didn't go ahead with his plan to condense the Potter books into an animated film. Most fans are much happier that we got a live action film series. (11) Harry Potter producer David Heyman says that Steven Spielberg wanted to cast Haley Joel Osment (then a successful American child actor) as Harry Potter. (12) J.K Rowling was said to be horrified at the thought of Haley Joel Osment playing Harry Potter. (13) David Heyman said he had a meeting with Spielberg about Harry Potter but never got the impression that Spielberg was very enthusiastic about the project or seemed especially keen or determined to actually do it. It came as no great surprise to Heyman when Spielberg decided to go and do something else instead. (14) Steven Spielberg said that one of the reasons why he decided not to make the first Harry Potter film was that he didn't consider it to be a big enough challenge. "I purposely didn't do the Harry Potter movie because for me, that was shooting ducks in a barrel. It's just a slam dunk. It's just like withdrawing a billion dollars and putting it into your personal bank accounts. There's no challenge."(15) Spielberg spent several months developing Harry Potter before he decided to go and do something else. He has expressed no regrets about turning the film down. (16) David Heyman says that when Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone reached his office it was put on a pile of scripts and books considered to have poor potential for a film. One of his assistants took it home to read and came back into the office raving about it. (17) David Heyman said of the books that "I hadn't a clue the Potter books would become an international phenomenon but I loved the author's voice, that the book didn't talk down to kids and it made me laugh."(18) Disney bid for the Harry Potter film rights but did not get them because J.K. Rowling felt they wanted too much creative control. She wanted to retain some input into any films made from the books. Disney must have greatly regretted this later because it meant they couldn't use Harry Potter in their theme parks. (19) One of the stipulations that J.K. Rowling made when she sold the film rights was that any films had to be based on the stories in the books. She didn't want someone to just get the rights to the Harry Potter characters and then make up their own stories and scripts.  (20) M. Night Shyamalan was offered the director's chair for the first film but he was too busy making the film Unbreakable. It was Steven Spielberg who suggested Shyamalan to the studio. Potter fans might have had a lucky escape as Shyamalan's films after Unbreakable have had spotty reviews to say the least and his 2010 children's film The Last Airbender was a legendary critical disaster. (21) Mike Newell was considered as the director for this first movie. He would later direct Goblet of Fire. (22) Wolfgang Petersen was another candidate to direct the first Potter movie. Peterson is best known for eighties childen's fantasy The NeverEnding Story and the gripping World War 2 submarine thriller Das Boot. He is believed to have ruled himself out of Harry Potter contention because of a scheduling conflict. (23) Brad Silberling, who at the time had directed the children's film Casper and the drama City of Angels, was alleged to be the frontrunner to direct the first Potter film at one point but this obviously didn't transpire in the end. Siberling later directed Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events. (24) Sam Mendes said he had some informal discussions about directing the first Potter movie. Mendes seemed to suggest that many directors had been 'sounded out' about the first Harry Potter film. Sam Mendes would later direct the Bond films Skyfall and Spectre. (25) Barry Levinson, who directed films like Young Sherlock Holmes, Rain Man, and Diner, was said to have thrown his hat into the ring to direct the first Potter movie. (26) Jan De Bont, who directed Speed and Twister, was interested in directing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone but the studio weren't really interested in him. At the time De Bont's recent films Speed 2: Cruise Control and The Haunting got dreadful reviews so his stock was low in Hollywood. (27) Jonathan Demme (who directed The Silence of the Lambs) was in contention to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and got as far as making a pitch to Warner Bros. (28) Joel Schumacher, who directed Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, was very interested in directing the first Potter movie but he wasn't chosen. At the time his stock was quite low because of the poor critical reception to Batman & Robin and his 1999 thriller 8mm. (29) Steven Soderbergh is sometimes alleged to have been on a shortlist of directors under consideration to direct the first Potter movie. (30) Terry Gilliam (of Time Bandits, Brazil and Monty Python fame) was J.K. Rowling's choice to direct the first Harry Potter film. Gilliam was on a shortlist of potential directors but the studio did not want him. "I was the perfect person to do Harry Potter," Gilliam complained. "I remember leaving the meeting, getting in my car, and driving for about two hours along Mulholland Drive just so angry. I mean, Chris Columbus' versions are terrible. Just dull. Pedestrian." (31) Despite his anger at being rejected, Gilliam later seemed to be express relief that he wasn't chosen. "That was one of my lucky moments," he told Total Film magazine. "I would have gone crazy. It's a factory, working on Harry Potter. It is. The studios are staking everything on the success of those movies. It was way too expensive. Too much at stake. So they [the studio bosses] interfere." (32) Terry Gilliam said that he was irritated by the fact the studio met with him despite (in his view) having no intention of hiring him. He felt they just wanted to cross him from their list and be able to say they spoke to him. Gilliam is a famously forthright and independent sort of character who has been known to go over budget, bicker with studios, and spend too long on something. Gilliam was not the sort of person that could be micro-managed (whether you liked the end result or not, you would have got Gilliam's own vision for Harry Potter) and this allegedly scared the studio away. (33) The late Alan Parker was one of the names considered when they were searching for a director to take charge of the first Harry Potter film. Parker had worked with young casts before on films like Bugsy Malone and Fame. However, he wasn't really interested and declined to get involved. "While that would have made me extremely rich today, my problem with it was that I didn’t like it, I didn’t understand it and I wasn’t interested in it."(34) When he was asked if he'd be interested in directing the first Harry Potter film, Alan Parker told the producers they should be talking to Terry Gilliam! (35) Rob Reiner and Tim Robbins were other names considered when a director was needed for the first Harry Potter film. Reiner, who directed the cult classics The Princess Bride and Stand By Me, didn't want to commit to spending so much time away from his home in America and so declined to be considered in the end. (36) Chris Columbus lobbied for the director's chair on the first film because his children loved the books. (37) David Heyman has conceded that Chris Columbus was a very 'conservative' choice to direct the first Harry Potter film. (38) Chris Columbus was best known for directing Home Alone, Home Alone 2, and Mrs Doubtfire. He was seen as a safe pair of hands and someone who had experience with mainstream family films. He wasn't though the most daring or exciting choice out of the candidates to direct the first Potter movie. (39) One of the reasons why Chris Columbus directed the first Harry Potter film was that he took the time and trouble to write a new draft of the script free of charge. This impressed the studio and illustrated how passionate he was about the project. (40) Chris Columbus had a lot of experience in working with child actors and this was clearly a big factor in why he was chosen to direct the first Potter movie. The main task of the director on the first movie was to somehow get good performances out of a group of child actors who had barely acted in anything before. (41) The 1985 adventure film Young Sherlock Holmes was a big influence on the Harry Potter film series. Young Sherlock Holmes depicts a young Holmes (Nicholas Rowe) and Watson (Alan Cox) meeting at the exclusive Brompton Academy as schoolboys and shows us how they become friends and solve their first mystery together. One can see the influences on Potter with the young cast and anachronistic boarding school setting. It comes as no surprise that when the casting was under way for the first Potter film, prospective actors were asked to perform scenes from Young Sherlock Holmes. Chris Columbus, who wrote Young Sherlock Holmes, said - "That was sort of a predecessor to this movie, in a sense. It was about two young boys and a girl in a British boarding school who had to fight a supernatural force." (42) American child actor Liam Aiken was the initial choice of the director Chris Columbus to play Harry Potter in the first film. Columbus had worked with Aitken before. However, J.K. Rowling insisted that the parts had to be played by British actors so that all the accents would be authentic. A tentative offer to Aiken was withdrawn. Aiken was the only American who was in contention to play Harry. (43) Liam Aiken went on to play Klaus Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events(44) When the story broke in the press that Liam Aiken was in the running to play Harry Potter, the British newspapers complained about the news that Harry Potter might be played by an American. (45) J.K Rowling said that when she heard about the Liam Aiken story she telephoned Chris Columbus to ask if the story was true. The rumpus this rumour created clearly put Columbus off casting Aiken. (46) The Guardian newspaper reported at the time that the controversy over Liam Aiken being in line to play Harry Potter forced the casting director Susie Figgis to quit the film. (47) J.K Rowling's insistence on British actors meant some big Hollywood stars had their hopes of being in the film dashed. Robin Williams was very keen to play Hagrid but Rowling already had her heart set on Robbie Coltrane for this part. (48) J.K. Rowling thought that Robbie Coltrane was perfect for Hagrid because he was cuddly but with a slight hint of menace. (49) Robbie Coltrane was the first actor to be cast when they made the first film. (50) J.K. Rowling said she first came up for the idea for Harry Potter while on a train from Manchester to London in 1990. "In 1990, my then-boyfriend and I decided to get a flat and move to Manchester together. We would flat hunt every once in awhile. One weekend after flat hunting, I took the train back to London on my own, and the idea for Harry Potter fell into my head. I didn't have a pen and was too shy to ask anyone for one on the train, which frustrated me at the time, but when I look back it was the best thing for me. It gave me the full four hours on the train to think up all the ideas for the book."(51) Robbie Coltrane said that when he first spoke to J.K. Rowling about playing Hagrid, she spent four hours on the phone to him explaining the character. This is what convinced him to take the part. (52) J.K. Rowling insisted to the producers that Maggie Smith had to play Minerva McGonagall. (53) Tim Roth passed on the role of Professor Severus Snape to play General Thade in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes. With the gift of hindsight, that seems like a very bad decision. Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes turned out to be a very forgettable film. (54) Casting director Janet Hirshenson said there was a big push by the studio to cast Billy Elliot star Jamie Bell as Harry in the first film. However, at 14, Bell was ultimately considered a bit on the old side to play the young Harry at the start of his wizarding adventures. (55) It is estimated that around 16,000 boys were looked at before Daniel Radcliffe was cast as Harry Potter. (56) Daniel Radcliffe's casting as Harry Potter was aided by the fact that the producers had been impressed by him in an adaptation of Dickens' David Copperfield. One could say there are some interesting parallels between David Copperfield and Harry Potter in that they are both orphans who achieved great things after a difficult start in life. (57) Daniel Radcliffe had lost interest in acting when the first Harry Potter film was casting and didn't want to be involved. It took a personal plea from the producer David Heyman to persuade him to audition for the part of Harry. (58) The part of Harry came down to a choice between Radcliffe and one other boy. The decision was so difficult that everyone decided to sleep on it and make a choice the next day. When they all got together again they were in agreement that Radcliffe was the best choice. One of the salient reasons for choosing Radcliffe is they could picture him growing into the role as time went on more than the other boy. (59) Daniel Radcliffe was in the bath when news came in that he'd been cast as Harry Potter. By way of celebration he was allowed to stay up thirty minutes past his usual bedtime.(60) Tom Felton auditioned to play Harry in the first film but was given the part of Draco Malfoy in the end. (61) Tom Felton also auditioned to play Ron.(62) Tom Felton hadn't read any of the Harry Potter books before he auditioned to play Draco. (63) On declining the role of Snape, Tim Roth later said - "Alan (Rickman) took it and ran with it and that was that. It was very different from what I was planning to do with the character, and that's OK. Do I regret it? I don't know if I ever think about things that way. If I had done it, everything would have changed. That's the nature of the randomness of life. It would have been nice to have a 7 year gig, that's a nice and comforting space to be in. But no, I think the better man for the job did the job."(64) Hatty Jones, star of the enjoyable 1998 children's film Madeline, tested for the part of Hermione. (65) J.K. Rowling was not happy with the choice of Chris Columbus to direct the film at first because she wanted a British director. However, after a meeting with Columbus she took a liking to him and changed her mind. (65) Chris Columbus received $10 million plus a share of the profits to direct this the first Potter movie. It would be fair to say that he didn't come cheap!(66) David Thewlis originally auditioned to play Professor Quirrell, Ian Hart’s role in the first film.