Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

"Something wicked this way comes."

2004 2h 21m EN

🙌

8.0

BANGER

🔥

90%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★8.0TMDB · 23,760🍅90%Rotten Tomatoes●82Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 761,199

AdventureFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Harry Potter's life is in danger once more as dangerous wizard Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is heading to Hogwarts.

“Something wicked this way comes.”

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Cast

Daniel Radcliffe
Harry Potter
Rupert Grint
Ron Weasley
Emma Watson
Hermione Granger
Robbie Coltrane
Rubeus Hagrid
Michael Gambon
Albus Dumbledore
Gary Oldman
Sirius Black
David Thewlis
Remus Lupin
Timothy Spall
Peter Pettigrew

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Writers: Steve Kloves, Jane Clark
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom, United States of America

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

MONEY

Did you know

$130M budget — tentpole studio territory.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 22 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, shot by Michael Seresin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Alfonso Cuarón directs. Michael Seresin behind the camera. John Williams scores. Steven Weisberg cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom, United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1$130M budget — tentpole studio territory.
2Made its money back 6.1× over at the box office.
3Released 22 years ago.
4International production across 2 countries: United Kingdom, United States of America.
5Part of the "Harry Potter Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6305+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
7Directed by Alfonso Cuarón, shot by Michael Seresin. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
8Original score by John Williams. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
9Editor Steven Weisberg shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
10Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson carry the top of the cast.
11Marketing tagline: "Something wicked this way comes.".
12IMDB entry: tt0304141 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
1323,760 TMDB user ratings logged — serious cultural footprint.
14Classified under 28 themes, including "witch", "school friend", "friendship", "based on novel or book".
15Released under 22 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Michael Seresin
Original score: John Williams
Editing: Steven Weisberg
Production design: Stuart Craig
Costume design: Jany Temime
Makeup / hair: Elizabeth Lewis
VFX supervisor: Tim Burke
Sound: Matthew Gough
Stunt coordinator: Greg Powell
Runtime: 141 min · 2h 21m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.78:1 (16:9)
Status: Released
Budget: $130,000,000
Box office: $789,804,554
Return: 608% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 82/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 761,199 votes
MPAA: PG

Awards

Nominated for 2 Oscars. 17 wins & 56 nominations total

BAFTA's Children & Young People Award - Feature 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

Alfonso Cuarón

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Binayak2020-03-09
I really loved this movie.
Nathan2022-11-25
★ 9/10
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is fantastic! This entry is another drastic step up from the previous film and the tone takes a dramatic shift in terms of seriousness. The quality and cinematography are simply brilliant in this film. There are so many amazing shots and sequences that just had me completely enamored. These films are ahead of their time for sure. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban has the best plot of the series so far. There is a constant threat looming in the background throughout the entire film that is known from the opening minutes. Sirius Black's menacing posters and headlines create a real sense of danger, and he truly seems mad. The dementors also deliver a serious threat on screen. Their introduction is terrifying, and their presence is felt in every scene. One of my favorite things about this film is the conclusion, the time traveling elements are perfect and answer so many questions that I had when running through the finale the first time. My fiancé and I were very confused at how things were happening, and I was having a hard time believing it. But it was brilliant the way it looped around, and the audience was given more background information that made those scenes complete. The trio of Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint elevate their performances once again. Their chemistry is amazing, and I have a feeling this complement will be handed out during every film until the conclusion. Gary Oldman was fantastic as Sirius Black and one of the more compelling "villains" of the series so far. Michael Gambon does an excellent job filling in for the late Richard Harris, it was really difficult to even tell that it was a different actor. My only complaint about this film was the beginning of the movie was slightly rushed. I felt like from when Harry left the Dursley's to when he arrived at Hogwarts the audience was whipped around from location to location, and it was hard to keep track of why. But the plot settles in and finds it's groove after that and delivers a near perfect conclusion. Score: 87% | Verdict: Excellent
CinemaSerf2023-09-04
★ 8/10
I recall the controversy as this was released. Alfonso Cuarón consciously decided to darken this film, and the light-hearted stories of the first two are replaced by an edgier approach to this tale for our wizarding trio. The world's most wanted wizard "Sirius Black" (Gary Oldman) escapes from "Azkaban" allegedly bent on the destruction of "Harry". The script has more by way of addition to the original book, but in a complementary - not detracting way. As the children grow into young adults, we are exposed to a scarier side of their existence - the "Dementors" that are supposed to protect the innocent and the "Boggart" all serve to introduce a physical fluidity to this shape-shifting environment of peril in which they now exist. The presence of "Valdemort" becomes more omnipresent and there is so much more substance to the stories now. Sir Michael Gambon takes over the role of "Dumbledore" without quite the presence of Richard Harris, but we can tell now that this series is heading for murky, dangerous, waters...