When Alfonso Cuarón got the call to direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, arguably one of the best movies in the franchise, he was very unsure about it. The director was fresh out of an acclaimed erotic road trip drama Y tu mamá también and the sudden shift to a Harry Potter movie without having virtually no clues about it was not a cakewalk for the director.
Guillermo del Toro, the Oscar-winning director who has been a long-time friend of Cuarón showed the right path. Cuarón’s Harry Potter movie was possible only for del Toro who insisted him to take on the project. The Mexican director listened to him, the mind behind the Oscar-winning fantasy The Shape of Water, and the movie went on to be another huge hit in the franchise.
Alfonso Cuarón Revealed What Propelled Him To Direct Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Alfonso Cuarón is one of the brilliant directors of the generation with several acclaimed titles to his credit including, Children of Men, Gravity, and Roma— the first Mexican film to win the Best Foreign Language Film award at the Oscars.
After Chris Columbus’ tenure, Warner Bros. wanted Cuarón to direct the 2004 movie. The director recently revealed that he had no idea about the depth of the franchise, Guillermo del Toro helped his fellow director. “I was confused because it was completely not on my radar,” Cuarón told Total Film while celebrating 20 years of the movie.
I speak often with Guillermo [del Toro], and a couple of days after, I said, ‘You know, they offered me this Harry Potter film, but it’s really weird they offer me this.’ He said, ‘Wait, wait, wait, you said you haven’t read Harry Potter?’ I said, ‘I don’t think it’s for me.’ In very florid lexicon, in Spanish, he said, ‘You are an arrogant a*shole.’
The harsh words coming out of del Toro’s mouth worked in Cuarón’s favor which propelled the director to rope into the project. However, it was not just the simple nudge from the Pan’s Labyrinth director, he did more than that.
Guillermo del Toro Kind Of Forced Alfonso Cuarón Into The Harry Potter Movie
Cuarón needed more of del Toro’s insistence and that’s exactly what the legendary director has provided. del Toro knew it the franchise was a big deal and he was never going to stop until his friend land on the project.
At the Telluride Film Festival in 2018, Cuarón further detailed how del Toro was responsible for pushing him under the umbrella of Harry Potter. “F*ckin’ skinny, you’re such a f*ckin’ arrogant bastard.” Cuarón revealed while speaking on del Toro’s immaculate influence (via Variety).
You are going right now to the fuckin’ bookshop and get the books and you’re going to read them and you call me right away. When he talks to you like that, well, you have to go to the bookshop. I called [del Toro] and said, ‘Well the material’s really great.’
Cuarón further revealed that del Toro said, “Well, you see you fuc*in’…,’ I mean, it’s just untranslatable from the Spanish.” Every Harry Potter fan must be glad that del Toro’s influence on Cuarón before Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban brought a fresh pair of eyes to the franchise. The movie claimed an astonishing 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes and earned $783 million at the global box office (per The Numbers).
