Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film)

The film version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (released June 4, 2004) included the basic plot of the book; however, the story centred around the difficulties of becoming an adolescent. It was directed by Alfonso Cuarón and produced by David Heyman, Chris Columbus, the director of the first two movies and Mark Radcliffe. It was the first movie to be using IMAX Technology only on IMAX Theaters.

Cast

 * Harry Potter - Daniel Radcliffe
 * Petunia Dursley - Fiona Shaw
 * Dudley Dursley - Harry Melling
 * Vernon Dursley - Richard Griffiths
 * Marge Dursley - Pam Ferris
 * James Potter - Adrian Rawlins
 * Lily Evans - Geraldine Somerville
 * Stan Shunpike - Lee Ingleby
 * Ernie Prang - Jimmy Gardner
 * Shrunken Head - Lenny Henry (voice)
 * Sirius Black - Gary Oldman
 * Cornelius Fudge - Robert Hardy
 * Ron Weasley - Rupert Grint
 * Hermione Granger - Emma Watson
 * George Weasley - Oliver Phelps
 * Fred Weasley - James Phelps
 * Percy Weasley - Chris Rankin
 * Molly Weasley - Julie Walters
 * Ginny Weasley - Bonnie Wright
 * Arthur Weasley - Mark Williams
 * Remus Lupin - David Thewlis
 * Albus Dumbledore - Michael Gambon
 * Severus Snape - Alan Rickman
 * Minerva McGonagall - Maggie Smith
 * Rubeus Hagrid - Robbie Coltrane
 * Neville Longbottom - Matthew Lewis
 * Draco Malfoy - Tom Felton
 * Gregory Goyle - Josh Herdman
 * Sybill Trelawney - Emma Thompson
 * Vincent Crabbe - Jamie Waylett
 * Walden Macnair - Peter Best
 * Peter Pettigrew - Timothy Spall

Other Cast:
 * Filius Flitwick - Warwick Davis
 * Argus Filch - David Bradley
 * The Fat Lady - Dawn French
 * Sir Cadogan - Paul Whitehouse
 * Dean Thomas - Alfred Enoch
 * Gryffindor Girl - Kandice Morris
 * Seamus Finnigan - Devon Murray
 * Gryffindor Boy - Rick Sahota
 * Padma Patil - Sharon Sandhu
 * Parvati Patil - Sitara Shah
 * Lavender Brown - Jennifer Smith
 * Angelina Johnson - Danielle Tabor
 * Pansy Parkinson - Genevieve Gaunt
 * Madam Rosmerta - Julie Christie
 * Alicia Spinnet - Unknown
 * Slytherin Boy - Bronson Webb
 * Katie Bell - Emily Dale
 * Tom - Jim Tavaré
 * Bill Weasley - Richard Fish
 * Charlie Weasley - Alex Crockford

Plot
Harry Potter is spending his summer at the Dursleys' house. Uncle Vernon's sister Marge arrives for a visit and at dinnertime, she viciously insults Harry and his parents. Harry's anger and unconscious magical powers cause her to inflate and float away. Expecting to have been expelled from Hogwarts for using magic outside of school, Harry flees. After seeing a large black dog, the Knight Bus appears and takes Harry to the Leaky Cauldron. There, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge tells Harry he will not be expelled. Harry learns that Sirius Black, who is said to be a supporter of Lord Voldemort, has escaped from Azkaban. He is also informed by Arthur Weasley that Black will likely come after him.

Harry journeys to Hogwarts with his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger; they are now entering their third year. On the train they share a compartment with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Remus Lupin, who is sleeping when they enter the compartment. Abruptly, the Hogwarts Express is stopped and a Dementor boards, searching for Black. The creature has a profound effect on Harry, causing him to faint. Lupin awakens and repels the Dementor. At school, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore informs the Hogwarts students that because Black is at large, Dementors have been set up around the school as a protection. In addition to Lupin's appointment, Hagrid is announced as the new Care of Magical Creatures teacher. As lessons begin, Hermione frequently arrives at their various classes by appearing out of nowhere. Lupin's lessons prove enjoyable, as he teaches useful spells and helps less confident students like Neville Longbottom. However Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures class does not go as planned, and on the first day, Draco Malfoy deliberately provokes the Hippogriff Buckbeak into attacking him. His father successfully has Buckbeak sentenced to death. Later, third year students are allowed to go to Hogsmeade, but since Harry's uncle Vernon didn't sign his letter of permission, he stays talking with Lupin, who says that he knew Harry's parents, and they were two great individuals.

Returning to the Gryffindor's tower, they find the Fat Lady's portrait empty, having been attacked. Dumbledore and the school Caretaker Argus Filch find the Fat Lady in another portrait, completely scared. She says that Sirius Black has entered the castle, and wanted to enter Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore sends all the students to sleep in the Great Hall, in which Professor Snape says to Dumbledore that the appointment of a teacher may had been dangerous. Dumbledore denies this, though both think that Harry may be in danger. Later, in a Defence Against The Dark Arts class, Snape substitutes Lupin, saying that he's "incapable of teaching". He teaches them about werewolves and animagi. An Animagus is a human who can turn into another animal and back into human when they choose. They can turn into only one animal.

During a Quidditch match, several Dementors approach Harry, causing him to fall off his broomstick; Dumbledore slows his descent. Harry then decides to learn how to fight the Dementors. Lupin says he will teach him, but after the holidays, since he feels sick. Near Christmas, Harry attempts to sneak to Hogsmeade without permission, but is caught by Fred and George Weasley, who give him the Marauder's Map so that he can enter the village through a secret passage. At Hogsmeade, Harry overhears that Black was his godfather and his parents' best friend. Black is said to have divulged the Potters' secret whereabouts to Voldemort and murdered their mutual friend Peter Pettigrew. Harry says to his friends that is looking forward to kill Black.

The holidays pass, and Lupin teaches Harry the spell to conjure a Patronus, a 'shield' or 'force' that can repel a Dementor. A Patronus is the opposite of a Dementor which breeds on unhappy thoughts and bad memories. The happier the thought used to cast the spell, the more powerful the Patronus. After several tries, Harry manages to create a Patronus. One night, Harry is using the Marauder's Map, and he sees Pettigrew's name. Going where he's supposed to be, he sees no one, but is caught by Snape. Lupin appears and sees the map, he then gets Harry away. In his classroom, he says to Harry that is very irresponsible of him to wander around with the map. Before leaving, Harry says that the map may not be working properly - he has seen Pettigrew's name on it, despite the fact that he's supposed to be dead. Lupin says that it's not possible, and stays looking at the map, quietly.

In Divination class, after everyone's gone, Professor Trelawney enters into a trance while Harry's there and predicts that the Dark Lord's servant will return to his master that night. Harry, Ron and Hermione visit Hagrid to console him over Buckbeak's impending execution. While there, Ron discovers his rat, Scabbers, who had disappeared earlier in the year, and whom Ron had believed to be dead. While the trio is chasing Scabbers, a large dog drags both Ron and and the rat into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow. Harry and Hermione follow, finding a tunnel leading to the Shrieking Shack. The dog is revealed to be Sirius Black, who is an Animagus. Lupin arrives as well and upon seeing Scabbers, embraces Sirius as an old friend. After being confronted by Hermione, Lupin admits to being a werewolf. Snape appears, planning to catch Black and Lupin and hand them over to the Dementors, but is knocked out by Harry. Lupin and Black explain that Scabbers is actually Peter Pettigrew in his Animagus form. Everything that Black is accused was actually Pettigrew and the pair force Pettigrew back into his human form. Lupin and Sirius prepare to kill Pettigrew but are stopped by Harry, who tells them that it was not what James would have done. As the group head back to the castle the full moon rises, causing Lupin to transform and Pettigrew to escape. Lupin and Sirius fight in their animal forms, until Lupin is distracted, and Sirius and Harry are attacked by Dementors. As Sirius is about to have his soul removed, Harry sees a figure in the distance cast a powerful stag-shaped Patronus, scattering the Dementors and saving their lives.

Hermione reveals that she possesses a time-turner, which is how she has been taking multiple classes at once. She and Harry travel back in time three hours, watching themselves go through the night's events. They set Buckbeak free and return to the Whomping Willow. As the Dementors are about to attack the "other" Harry and Sirius, Harry realizes that the person he saw was actually him and casts the Patronus. Harry and Hermione rescue a captured Sirius and give him Buckbeak to escape on, as time equals out again. At the end of the year, Lupin resigns, knowing that people will not allow a werewolf to teach their children. Later, Sirius sends Harry a Firebolt, an extremely fast racing broom.

Differences Between Novel and Film

 * The movie starts with Harry performing the "Lumos Maxima" Spell, well aware of the Restrictions of Underage Wizards and did not receive any warnings. The spell was also invented for the film. In the book, Harry uses a simple flashlight. Lumos Maxima is later used in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.
 * In the book, at the dinner party, Aunt Marge allows Ripper to drink tea off of a saucer. In the film, she allows him a drink of brandy from her glass.
 * In the book, Harry pretends to be Neville Longbottom while on the Knight Bus, running from the Ministry of Magic. In the film, Harry doesn't pretend to be Neville.
 * The film makers added Shrunken Heads that have the ability to talk. So far these creatures have been unique to this film only.
 * The origins of the Marauder's Map are not revealed in the film. The whole storyline of the Marauders is left out, including that James was an Animagus that transformed into a stag. However, in the film Harry still makes the connection between the stag and his dad. This also causes a continuity error in the later films as Harry knew who Wormtail was in the fourth film, and Sirius is called "Padfoot" in the fifth. However, in the movie Sirius shows knowledge of the map stating that the map never lies.
 * Unlike in the previous films the majority of the Quidditch season was cut out, aside from the first match. The game where Harry sees Marcus Flint, Crabbe, Goyle and Malfoy disguised as Dementors and the game where Gryffindor wins the Quidditch Cup were omitted. Consequently, Cho Chang, Harry's future girlfriend, does not appear until the next film.
 * In the book the rain during the Hufflepuff Quidditch match makes it difficult for Harry to see until Hermione casts Impervius on his glasses, In the film, the Quidditch players wear goggles.
 * In the book, Harry sees the Grim in the Stands watching him. Whereas in the movie, Harry flies high into the sky, and instead sees a cloud shaped like the Grim. In the game Harry sees it in the stands like in the book.
 * In the book, Harry received his Firebolt for Christmas right after his Nimbus 2000 was destroyed. Eventually, Sirius Black revealed he had sent the broom. In the film, Harry receives the Firebolt at the end of the film, and although there was no note, Harry knew that Black had sent it after seeing one of Buckbeak's feathers enclosed with it.
 * Crookshanks' role is alsmot entirely removed. His friendship with Padfoot, and his role in the shrieking shack were completely cut.
 * In the book, Harry and Ron get in a huge argument with Hermione because of the problems she caused towards their possessions (Harry's Firebolt and Ron's rat Scabbers), until Hagrid set them straight about their selfishness. In the film most of this is omitted, except for some of Ron's initial arguments with Hermione which didn't go as far as the book.
 * The film omits the part where Hermione, and later Ron and Harry (once they settle their dispute with her) help Hagrid prepare his defence for Buckbeak's trial.
 * In the film, the part where Sirius tries to kill Wormtail disguised as a rat in the middle of the night is omitted. The part where Sir Cadogan becomes the portrait for Gryffindor is also omitted. This is left as a deleted scene.
 * In the film, Harry's two visits to Hogsmeade are combined into a single trip. So in the film, Harry throws snowballs at Draco and his cronies while under the Invisibility Cloak. In the novel, he throws mudballs. The scene is also extended, with Harry also pantsing and kicking Crabbe's backside, pulling the other Slytherin Boy's hat over his eyes and swinging him around by his scarf, and dragging Malfoy away by his feet. Omitted from the film is the hood of the cloak falling of Harry's head causing Malfoy to learn of Harry's unauthorized visit.
 * In the novel, while trying to make the Marauder's Map "reveal its secrets", Snape tries once and fails. He then tries again and it fails. He tries once more and it finally works. In the film, he only tries once and it works.
 * In the film, Snape catches Harry in the hallway after he saw Pettigrew's name one night on the Marauder's map and went to find him. In the book, Snape caught Harry after being seen by Malfoy in Hogsmeade. Both versions end the same though where Lupin covers for Harry and then takes the map into his possession.
 * In the film, after seeing Pettigrew's name on the map, he says this to Lupin. In the book, Harry never saw Pettigrew's name on it, and Lupin was the one who saw Pettigrew's name after acquiring the map. These events are what caused Lupin to believe that Sirius is innocent.
 * In the book, when Professor Snape is insulted by the Marauder's Map, every Marauder says something different to Professor Snape, with Lupin saying the bit about Snape minding his own business. In the film, the map reads, "Messers. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs offer their compliment to Professor Snape and request that he keep his abnormally large nose out of other people's business."
 * In the book, during his first anti-dementor lesson, Harry tries to ward off the dementor three times before succeding. But in the movie, he only tries twice. Also, Harry's memory in the book that works is the memory of how happy he was that he would be leaving the Dursleys. In the film, he uses a made-up memory of his parents.
 * In the novel, Hermione slaps Malfoy and he reacts passively. In the movie, this is slightly extended. Instead, Hermione first draws her wand on Malfoy, and then punches him in the nose, in both situations he acts cowardly.
 * In the book Harry, Ron, and Hermione all try and disarm Snape at the same time, causing him to hit against the wall and go unconscious. In the film it is only Harry who does this.
 * In the book, Snape had been unconscious because of the spell cast by Hermione, Ron, and Harry and had to be suspended in mid-air by magic to be brought out of the Shrieking Shack. He was not there to protect Hermione, Ron, and Harry when Lupin transformed into a werewolf, but in the film, Snape was not unconscious and he protected Harry, Ron, and Hermione from Lupin. In the book Snape gains consciousness only after Sirius and Harry become unconscious because of the Dementors but in the film, he is conscious from the beginning.
 * In the book Hermione rescues Sirius Black with "Alohomora," but in the film, she uses "Bombarda", a spell made up for the films.
 * In the book, Hermione is with Harry and Sirius when they are attacked by the Dementors. In the film, she stays behind with Ron.
 * In the film, when Harry and Hermione go back in time, Hermione throws an ammonite fossil at Harry to get his attention, so he can see Fudge and Macnair coming to Hagrid's hut. Hermione later howls like a wolf to call Lupin away from fighting Padfoot, in turn causing him to come after them instead, at which point they are rescued by Buckbeak. In the novel, neither of these two events occur.
 * The part of Ron receiving the owl Pigwidgeon from Sirius Black to replace Scabbers has been omitted. This caused a continuity error with the following films where Ron was seen with with him, without any explanation on how he got an owl. Also omitted was the letter addressed to Harry that Sirius sent with Pidwidgeon.



Differences from earlier movies in the series

 * In the, to date, single most noticeable change of cast, Michael Gambon now plays Dumbledore, following the death of Richard Harris who played the wizard in the first two films. Gambon's portrayal in this and future films is of a more robust and eccentric wizard. The films have so far made no attempt to reconcile the change in Dumbledore's appearance and demeanour, although given the concept of the series, it is not impossible to do so (Rowling, for her part, did not suggest any change of appearance in Dumbledore in the books she wrote after the part was recast).
 * The Harry Potter logo itself has changed, with the "P" lightning bolt and 'tongue' merging,and a 'tail' is inserted.
 * The Leaky Cauldron has now changed location and structure.
 * Tom, the bartender and landlord of the Leaky Cauldron, has been replaced by a different actor.
 * Hogwarts itself has new features:
 * The Clock Tower, Clock Tower Courtyard, Covered Bridge and the Stone Circle are added to the back of the school.
 * The Central Tower and the two Bell Towers now have different shapes.
 * The Dark Tower is also added in between the Central Tower and Defence Against the Dark Arts tower.
 * The Quidditch pitch is mostly shown with only the wooden frame.
 * Hagrid's Hut is now located down the hill to the back of the castle.
 * The location of the portrait of the Fat Lady, the entrance to the Gryffindor Common Room, has been moved to the middle of the moving staircases, in plain view to any student not in Gryffindor. The appearance of the Fat Lady has also changed, with a different actor background and ballgown from the first movie.
 * The Whomping Willow is in a different location than in The Chamber of Secrets; in the earlier film, the Willow was very close to the school inside the Training Grounds. In this film, the Willow is a considerable distance from the school, at the bottom of a hill and amidst rocky terrain.
 * Most wands have taken different shapes.
 * Scabbers, Ron's rat, now has excess hair on his ears.
 * Whenever a spell is now cast in the film, a faint whistling can be heard. This is the only film where this sort of event takes place.

Box office
Prisoner of Azkaban has the dubious distinction of being, as of 2009, the lowest-grossing film in the series. It was far from a failure by any means: it generated worldwide box office of more than US$750 million and is currently ranked the 21st highest grossing film of all time.