Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (Film) Released in the US

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is a 2004 fantasy adventure film, based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. Directed by Mexican film maker Alfonso Cuarón, it is the third film in the popular Harry Potter series. It stars Daniel Radcliffe as the teenage wizard Harry Potter, and Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as Harry's best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Gary Oldman and David Thewlis joined the cast as the new characters Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. In this movie, the role of Albus Dumbledore was played by Michael Gambon who took over from the late Richard Harris who died of Hodgkin's disease. Steve Kloves returned as screenwriter, while Chris Columbus (the director of the previous two films) became a producer, alongside David Heyman. The film was released on 31 May 2004 in the United Kingdom and on 4 June 2004 in North America, as the first film released into IMAX theaters.

The film was nominated for two Academy Awards — Academy Award for Original Music Score and Academy Award for Visual Effects at the 77th Academy Awards held in 2005.

Prisoner of Azkaban was, at the time of publication, the longest book in the series. The increasing plot complexity necessitated a looser adaptation of the book's finer plot lines and back-story. The film opens with Harry using magic to light his wand in short bursts, in the same scene in the book he uses a torch as performing magic is illegal for minors. The connection between Harry's parents and the Marauder's map is only briefly mentioned, as is Remus Lupin's association to both the map and James Potter. Some exposition was removed for dramatic effect: both the Shrieking Shack and Scabbers the rat are mentioned only very briefly in the film adaptation, while they receive a more thorough coverage in the novel. Most of the back story of Sirius Black is also cut, with no mention of the manner of his escape from Azkaban.

On account of pace and time considerations, the film glosses over detaile...