As Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is currently in production with David Yates at the helm of the film, rumors continue to swirl over who will direct the final Harry Potter film that is set to be released sometime in 2010. One of the directors mentioned more of late is Guillermo Del Toro, who talks again about the possibility of directing films such as “The Hobbit,” and notably “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” Echoing comments made last October, in a new interview with MTV Mr. Del Toro says again that he is “definitely interested” in directing the final Harry Potter film. He says he enjoys the darker tone of the recent movies, noting after his friend Alfonso Cuaron directed Prisoner of Azkaban, the movies have “evolved greatly into a very nice universe to play at (in).” He also says positively several times how “Dickensian” he feels the Harry Potter series is, and stated he felt the last line of “Deathly Hallows” was a “beautiful, subdued way” to end the book, and was “very moving.” You can watch this interview with Guillermo Del Toro via this link.
I think that we should all see Sweeney Todd and consider the possibility of Tim Burton directing DH (it has 3 HP cast members- Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, and Timothy Spall)
We just got the blu-ray box set…yumm… Anyway, I’m glad to see others were’t huge fans of OOP movie. I just watched it again and was (once again) so disappointed. It was one of my favorite books and I thought the movie was ho hum. I’ll be really sad if Heyman directs DH. It still bugs me that in interviews he was all boastful about making the movie so short. IMO, taking the longest book so far and make the shortest movie so far only meant that too much was lost…not that he was some great director. On the other hand, GOF was probably one of my least favorite books, but that movie - in watching it again - was actually pretty good. Effects are killer in HD, but even that aside, the plot and story was complete, character-building was nice.
just curious, did it appear to anyone else that some scenes were actually shot longer, and then edited down?
for example, when Dumbledore and Harry are discussing the prophecy, did it seem as if further dialogue should have been there, but had been cut? In particular, as the films stands now it has Harry asking “why didn’t you tell me?”....which only makes sense in the film if there had been lines from Dumbledore to react to (ie, that Dumbledore knew the prophecy, that Trelawney had made it, that they had been interrupted?) Ok, yes, we know that from the book, but the dialogue in that film scene just doesn’t match up as it currently stands, leading me to wonder about the editing, and a possible extended edition someday
there were other moments throughout the movie that seemed as if dialogue had been snipped….but the Prophecy discussion really sticks out in my mind
I know it’s a matter of taste but the auteur, like Cuaron or Del Toro seem to take many more liberties with their films than other directors. They are (in my mind) like the Impressionists in Art. That’s fine. But, for the final Harry Potter film, I don’t want to see an artsy, impressionistic film. I want to see a magical, visual interpretation of the written word; a sweeping, gut-wrenching, graceful ending to the story of the Boy Who Lived. I want to leave the theatre with the same sense of completeness that I felt when I closed DH the first time and thought, ” Yes, that was the only way to end it.”
Jeannine: I’ve always assumed that, since CoS made less money than PS, that PoA made less money because of theater-goers opting to wait for the DVDs instead, having grown accustomed to the bland adaptations by Columbus. PoA went on to sell insanely on DVD, and the films started making a lot more money in theaters again. I thank Cuaron.
Anyway, I hope Del Toro, Yates, or Cuaron direct DH!
Jeannine: I’ve always assumed that, since CoS made less money than PS, that PoA made less money because of theater-goers were opting to wait for the DVDs instead, having grown accustomed to the bland adaptations by Columbus. PoA went on to sell insanely on DVD, and the films started making a lot more money in theaters again. I thank Cuaron.
Anyway, I hope Del Toro, Yates, or Cuaron direct DH! I’d be happy either way.
Nick: I have no problem with art films. Please don’t assume that people dislike PoA because it’s artistic. I’m a big fan of Cauron’s work outside PoA (I actually think his “Little Princess” is better than the original novel and “Children of Men” was one of my favorite films of last year) and I love Del Toro’s as well. However his version of HP? I thought it was awful.
PoA was all artistry and no substance and as TarotX also noted Hermione and Ron have still not recovered from the hack job Cauron made on their characters. They hardly resemble themselves at all in PoA or GoF. Rupert as an actor didn’t benefit either. He’s been shoved to the side ever since as the least of the three (look at the promo stuff for CoS- Rupert actually got more attention than Emma by a bit), although Hermione’s not-at-all-resembling-her-canon-counterpart makeover did wonders for Emma’s career. It really doesn’t matter how pretty the scenery is or how lovely the cinematography if everything else about the movie is bad. Even the quality of the acting diminished greatly in PoA. It’s not good when the acting in the first two movies, when they’re preteens- is better than the acting in the third and fourth.
To the earlier commenter that said the HP movies wouldn’t be where they are today without PoA- you’re probably right. They’d be better, because PoA started them on a path of deviation from JK Rowling’s brilliant concepts and character developments that is just unfortunate. Also, PoA made the least amount of money of the HP films and to be honest most non book fans I’ve talked to about it were unimpressed. The film is just boring.
Also to this- many people who like what Yates did to OOTP confess they didn’t really like the book that much.
OotP was one of my favorite books and to be honest I disliked the movie when I first saw it. I hadn’t given it a fair chance. I went to see it again after I’d rewatched all the Potter films and it’s now one of my favorites. It made some stupid cuts that will hurt them later (i.e. the mirror) and it was not perfect. However, it felt a heck of a lot more like Rowling’s universe than PoA or GoF.
Danni: Not to mention Jo said that her favorite movie now is OotP. ^_*
TarotX: Josh Whedon for the win. I love this choice. He is a fan of the books and unlike a lot directors knows how to balance a large cast while making sure all of them are complex and multi-dimensional instead of cardboard cutouts.
However, it felt a heck of a lot more like Rowling’s universe than PoA or GoF AND it was just a far more entertaining film. It never dragged. It was funny, was extremely successful at shifting moods (light hearted to dark), the acting was great, and the atmosphere effective. It was a better movie, simple as that. I think Yates, if he wants the job, will be back for DH. I don’t think they’d gamble on Cauron.
I have a question about Del Toro though. I have seen the “Hellboy” movie but have never read any of the comics. How true is the movie to that universe?
I think that we should all see Sweeney Todd and consider the possibility of Tim Burton directing DH (it has 3 HP cast members- Alan Rickman, Helena Bonham Carter, and Timothy Spall)