Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

"Something evil has returned to Hogwarts!"

2002 2h 41m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🍅

82%

FRESH

👌

METACRITIC

⭐

7.5

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 24,190🍅82%Rotten Tomatoes●63Metacritic★7.5IMDB · 759,564

AdventureFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione's magical abilities and courage.

“Something evil has returned to Hogwarts!”

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Cast

Daniel Radcliffe
Harry Potter
Rupert Grint
Ron Weasley
Emma Watson
Hermione Granger
Kenneth Branagh
Gilderoy Lockhart
Toby Jones
Dobby (voice)
Robbie Coltrane
Rubeus Hagrid
Richard Harris
Albus Dumbledore
Alan Rickman
Severus Snape

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Chris Columbus
Writers: Steve Kloves, Martin Asbury
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 161 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 8.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Harry Potter Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

275+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Chris Columbus, shot by Roger Pratt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Chris Columbus directs. Roger Pratt behind the camera. John Williams scores. Peter Honess cuts. A long sit — settle in. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 161 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2$100M budget — tentpole studio territory.
3Made its money back 8.8× over at the box office.
4Released 24 years ago.
5International production across 3 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America, Germany.
6Part of the "Harry Potter Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
7275+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
8Directed by Chris Columbus, shot by Roger Pratt. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
9Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
10Editor Peter Honess shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
11Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson carry the top of the cast.
12Marketing tagline: "Something evil has returned to Hogwarts!".
13IMDB entry: tt0295297 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1424,190 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
15Classified under 24 themes, including "witch", "flying car", "based on novel or book", "elves".
16Released under 21 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Roger Pratt
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Peter Honess
Production design: Stuart Craig
Costume design: Lindy Hemming
Makeup / hair: Clare Le Vesconte
VFX supervisor: Jim Mitchell
Sound: Randy Thom
Stunt coordinator: Greg Powell
Runtime: 161 min · 2h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $100,000,000
Box office: $876,688,482
Return: 877% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes: 82% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 63/100
IMDB rating: 7.5/10 · 759,564 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Won 1 BAFTA Award14 wins & 50 nominations total

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Family Film

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Harry Potter Collection

The Harry Potter films are a fantasy series based on the series of seven Harry Potter novels by British writer J. K. Rowling.

Also by

Chris Columbus

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

WiSpider2022-01-05
Awesome 👍
Nathan2022-11-25
★ 8/10
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is a worthy sequel that improves upon the first and expands the lore in a grand way. The quality in this film is vastly superior to the first in terms of CGI and acting, which is par for the course as the main trio grows into their roles and as actors. It is evident that the CGI team had adequate time before this film's release because for 2002 the effects are spectacular. From Dobby the Elf to the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, this movie nails creature models and creates very believable interactions between the models and the actors. Despite this film not having the impact in terms of discovering the magical world of Hogwarts for the first time, the story is able to improve upon its predecessor delivering an all-around stronger plot. There is a real sense of mystery surrounding the Chamber of Secrets and the suspense and hysteria it creates around Hogwarts is very intriguing. The stakes and the plot progression feel elevated here, creating a more seamless experience. Like previously stated, the main casts acting is improved drastically. Each actor is coming into their own and really is getting comfortable with their character. Rupert Grint steals the show with his comedic timing and cowardly presence. Emma Watson is great again but does not carry the entire trio like she had to in the previous film. There are plenty of new additions this time around and all of them were splendid. I particularly liked Dobby and Gilderoy Lockhart. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets improves upon the first in almost every aspect, and that is all you can ask for a sequel. Score: 79% | Verdict: Great
CinemaSerf2023-09-03
★ 7/10
This second book in JK Rowling's "Harry Potter" series sees our trio of wizarding weans start to develop a much closer relationship with each other; and we begin to realise the challenges young "Harry" (Daniel Radcliffe) is to face as he grows up. This is much more sinister than the opener; Alan Rickman's "Prof. Snape" starts to come into his own as his evil nemesis v Maggie Smith as his professional proponent and "Dumbledore" (Richard Harris) starts to develop more as a character too. I could possibly have done without "Moaning Myrtle" but the story is well adapted and moves along quickly, with a little more humour than the original too. Again, the score and effects are hugely complementary to what is simply a cracking fantasy adventure story.