Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. Director Alfonso Cuaron (Children of Men) took the fantasy franchise in a new direction with the third film in 2004, when Harry, Hermione and Ron matured from children to teenagers. But he almost turned down the directing job if it hadn’t been for a scolding Guillermo del Toro would have been.
We owe Harry Potter 3 to Guillermo del Toro’s insults
Looking back, Alfonso Cuarón recalls in an interview with Total Film how confused he was at the time when he was offered the opportunity to direct the third Harry Potter film. The Mexican filmmaker had just finished filming Y Tu Mama Tambien and had little to do with the British fantasy phenomenon. So, confused, he turned to his friend and colleague, the current fantasy master Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy):
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I often talk to Guillermo [del Toro] and said to him a few days later, ‘You know, it’s really strange that they offered me this Harry Potter film. […] He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, you haven’t read Harry Potter?’ And I said, ‘I don’t think that’s for me.’ Whereupon he explained to me in very flowery Spanish: ‘You’re an arrogant asshole.’
In reality, according to Variety, the insults were even more offensive when Guillermo del Toro ordered Alfonso Cuarón to immediately go to a “go to the damn bookstore, buy the books and then call him immediately.” He saw in the fantasy material the opportunity that his friend did not see. Cuarón continues to remember:
If he talks to you like that, well, you need to go to a bookstore. […] Afterwards I called him and said, ‘The material is really great.’ And he said, ‘Well, you see, you damn…’ – well, the rest cannot be translated from Spanish.
Alfonso Cuarón then took over the direction of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the rest is history. Producer David Heyman explained to Total Film on the occasion of the 20th anniversary his reasons for hiring the Mexican director: Y Tu Mama Tambien was a sensitive film about the end of adolescence and Harry Potter 3 was the film about the beginning of the magical teenage life.
Podcast: Is the Harry Potter series really a good idea?
It was speculated about for a long time, but now it has been confirmed: the first series in the history of Harry Potter is being produced. Fantasy fans, however, are divided in their reactions.
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In the podcast, we answer important questions about the series in which Harry Potter creator JK Rowling is involved. Among them: Why is Rowling’s involvement so criticized? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of a remake of the books?