HARRY POTTER & ORDER OF THE PHOENIX Press Release

[AndyDursin]

Here's hoping John Williams comes back...fingers crossed...

Interesting that it doesn't seem any "name" stars have been added to the mix...cost-cutting move, perhaps?


Principal photography will commence February 6 at England’s Leavesden Studios on “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, the fifth film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s beloved Harry Potter novel series.

Directed by award winning British filmmaker David Yates (“The Girl in the Café”, “Sex Traffic”, “State of Play”), “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” is produced by “Harry Potter” film series producer David Heyman and David Barron, from a screenplay by Michael Goldenberg (“Where the Wild Things Are”, “Peter Pan”, “Contact”).

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson reprise their roles as close-knit teen wizards Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The production also welcomes back production designer Stuart Craig, costume designer Jany Temime, creature effects supervisor Nick Dudman, special effects supervisor John Richardson and visual effects supervisor Tim Burke. The director of photography is Slawomir Idziak (“King Arthur”, “Black Hawk Down”) and the editor is Mark Day (“The Girl in the Café”, “State of Play”).

Joining the stellar cast are Imelda Staunton (“Nanny McPhee”, “Vera Drake”) as Dolores Umbridge, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher; George Harris (“The Interpreter”, “Black Hawk Down”) as Kingsley Shacklebolt; Helen McCrory (“Casanova”, “Enduring Love”) as Bellatrix Lestrange; Natalia Tena (“Mrs. Henderson Presents”, “About a Boy”) as Nymphadora Tonks; Kathryn Hunter (“All or Nothing”, “Orlando”) as Mrs. Figg; and 14 year-old newcomer Evanna Lynch, who beat over 15,000 hopefuls at an open casting call to win the role of Luna Lovegood, a Ravenclaw student who becomes an important ally of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s.

In “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix”, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts and discovers that much of the wizarding community is in denial about the teenager’s recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort, preferring to turn a blind eye to the news that Voldemort has returned. Fearing that Hogwarts’ venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about Voldemort’s return in order to undermine his power and take his job, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the Hogwarts students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge’s Ministry-approved course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the dark forces threatening them and the entire wizarding community, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry takes matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead.

“Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” will be released in 2007.

[romanD]

well, maybe they just run out of british actors... lol... who else famous is there? Helen Mirren will get a role sooner or later I guess... Sean Connery? lol... but not many others come to mind quickly...

anyhow, I don't think Williams will return... and even if he does, his fans have to face the fact that he probably won't be able to do all anyway... it takes at least 5 more years until the final one arrives and chances are not good that Williams will then still be working (or even alive...).

so why risk that the final score will be done by somebody else and not just give the franchise to somebody else now or give each movie a different voice and get somebody new each time.

I don't mind any of those options...

[Paul MacLean]

well, maybe they just run out of british actors... lol... who else famous is there? Helen Mirren will get a role sooner or later I guess... Sean Connery? lol... but not many others come to mind quickly...

Don't forget Peter O'Toole, Sian Phillips, Brian Blessed, Derek Jacobi, Julia Sawalha, Thandi Newton, Kirsten Scott-Thomas, Judi Dench, Rufus Sewell, Ian McShane, Robert Powell, Michael Palin, Bill Paterson, Julian Sands, Gabriel Byrne, Stephen Rea, Jennifer Saunders...etc.

Plenty more where they came from!

anyhow, I don't think Williams will return... and even if he does, his fans have to face the fact that he probably won't be able to do all anyway... it takes at least 5 more years until the final one arrives and chances are not good that Williams will then still be working (or even alive...).

Well I don't like to think that will be the case. Besides, Elmer Bernstein was still working at the age of 80. Maurice Jarre is 81 and still working.

so why risk that the final score will be done by somebody else and not just give the franchise to somebody else now or give each movie a different voice and get somebody new each time.

The problem is, perhaps more than any other composer, John Williams puts an indellible personality print on all the films he scores. So when anyone else provides a completely original score for a sequel to a Williams-scored film, it sounds very odd, and frankly *wrong*. Most filmmakers realize this, and wisely instructed Ken Thorne, Sandy Courage, Don Davis, etc. to utilize Williams existing themes when scoring their respective sequels.

In any case, the way these films are going, I see a trend towards hiring less expensive talent. It started with an A-list Hollywood director, moved-on to an "art-house" director, then a "hired gun" director. And now we have the relitively unknown David Yates. I can almost see the final film ultimately being made by personel recruited from British television. (Music by Carl Davis perhaps? Actually that could be great!)