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.
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 (Harry and Hermione) 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 Sorcerer's Stone (2001).
David Thewlis was originally considered to play Professor Quirrell in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer'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.
Alfonso 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 Cuarón's contract forbade the director from cursing in front of the kids on set.
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 (who directed the first two films) offered the role of director to Alfonso Cuarón after watching Cuarón's A Little Princess (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.
Because he would be overseeing this film's post-production work, director Alfonso Cuarón declined the offer to direct Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Mike Newell was then chosen by Warner Brothers.
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 £5.3 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 too scary for 6 year olds and the next rating, "not under 12", would exclude too 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 16 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 William 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.
When Harry, Hermione, and Ron are returning to the school from Hagrid's hut when after witnessing Buckbeak's execution, Hermione hugs Ron and Harry hugs Hermione - a reference to Cuarón's movie Y tu mamá también (2001).
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 chase other footprints; cat prints that chase owl prints; extra-large footprints by Robbie Coltrane's credit; footprints that take special interest in the closing credits' creator; two pairs of footprints in a scandalous configuration in a corner turret; footprints that scurry away when the page covering them is lifted; footprints that get stuck in an alcove; footprints that walk into a room labeled "The Grindylow Lagoon," then sink; and Hogsmeade landmarks, including the Book of Monster's (sic) Repair Shop and The Stink Bomb Shop; toward the end, footprints can be seen playing hopscotch. By the listing for the song "La cumparsita" (The song Lupin plays during the Boggart scene) a set of footprints can be seen tapping one of their feet.
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 almost completely out of the film. You do still see Sir Cadogan jump into the shot of Ron, Harry and Hermione right after Ginny tells them the Fat Lady is gone. He appears in a picture behind them.
A fire near the Glenfinnan viaduct in Scotland delayed filming of the Hogwarts Express scenes for a day.
Two Knight Buses were built: one for exterior shots and one for interior shots.
Ian McKellen turned down the role of Dumbledore. Having appeared as Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, he said, "I had enough trouble living up to one legend. Two would be too much to hope for."
Ron's dream about spiders making him tap-dance is a two-in-one reference of the next book. In 'Goblet of Fire' there is an unforgivable curse where you can control what someone does, taught by Professor Moody. He makes a spider tap-dance on the desk.
Prior to its release, material related to the film was labeled with the code title "Radiator Blues".
Professor Dumbledore seemingly stalls the executioner by saying that he needs to sign the execution order, and that he has "a very long name". In the book "Order of the Phoenix", his full name is revealed to be Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.
During the scene where we first meet Buckbeak the Hippogriff, just after Ron pushes Harry forward there is a shot of the animal pooping. The CGI team believes this might be the first example of a CGI animal doing this, but the Discovery Channel miniseries "Walking with Dinosaurs" (1999) had done it first.
After Dumbledore says his final lines outside the infirmary, he goes down the stairs humming La Raspa, the Mexican hat dance.
Alfonso Cuaron had an idea for there to be tiny people inhabiting Hogwarts, and jumping on piano keys in one scene. J.K. Rowling firmly vetoed it, saying tiny people were completely foreign to the world of her books.
In the classroom scene where Lupin (David Thewlis) puts on a gramophone while the students fight a Boggart, we see a close-up of the gramophone, and on it is the word 'Thewlis'.
When Chris Columbus was still slated to direct, Robson Green was considered for the role of Sirius Black.
Those are pretty interesting, it's kind of funny about the night vision goggles at the cinemas.
Congrats!
And yeah, I wonder what the people who worked at the theaters first thought when their manager first told them about how they have to wear night vision goggles. _________________ ^made by Fiendfyre
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