Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007) Poster


The studio considered moving the entire production out to Barradov in Prague from Leavesden to take advantage of its incentives but the move was vetoed by Alan Radcliffe and David Heyman, primarily on security issues.
Jump to: Cameo (1) | Spoilers (6)
In the scene where Harry, Ron, and Hermione are discussing Harry's kiss with Cho, the three begin to crack up near the end of the scene. This was all real laughter from the three actors. The director thought it was good for the scene and kept rolling.
During filming of The Order of the Phoenix, Alan Rickman banned Matthew Lewis and Rupert Grint from being within 5 meters of his new BMW, because during the making of The Goblet of Fire, they spilled milkshake in his car.
Daniel Radcliffe came up with the idea that, as a gesture of respect to a teacher that Harry most certainly looked up to, he would wear a certain type of clothes that resemble the outfit worn by Prof. Lupin in his lessons from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), during his teachings. The director liked the suggestion, so that became the basis for his look during those scenes.
Since this film would include wand dueling at an elite level, a specific "wand choreographer" (Paul Harris, who is actually a professional dance choreographer) was brought in to design the style and technique of this highly unorthodox way of fighting. The result consists of five basic spell-casting moves, which each of the actors were then allowed to adapt slightly to fit their own character. So, for instance, Lucius Malfoy would have a very formal and somewhat 'stiff' fighting style, while Sirius Black uses a snappy and more spontaneous 'street fight' style.
Imelda Staunton was the producer's only choice for the role of Umbridge. She and costume designer Jany Temime came up with the idea of making her dress more padded and more saturated as the film progresses. The novel describes her being physically chubby and like a toad.
Evanna Lynch beat 15000 girls for the role of Luna. She was ninth in a line of 29 finalists, and when it came to viewing the audition videos, one of the producers, David Barron, stopped viewing after her audition, saying, "She is Luna." Unknown to them, Lynch actually wrote a letter directly to J.K. Rowling.
J.K. Rowling provided over 70 names for the Black family tree tapestry, complete with details of relations between each and every member, whose were to be scorched and so on.
When Dumbledore's Army first meets at the Hog's Head Inn, there is a bartender accompanied by a goat, played by Jim McManus, and credited as "Barman." This character is later identified as Aberforth Dumbledore, the Professor's younger brother. This character returns in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011), and is played by Ciarán Hinds.
During the breakfast scene in the Great Hall, boxes of cereal can be seen with the names Cheeri-Owls and Pixie-Puffs, with color schemes similar to those of Cheerios and Sugar Puffs boxes, respectively.
Dumbledore's line "Don't fight him, Harry, you can't win" was featured prominently in just about every trailer and TV-spot, yet it is nowhere in the final version of the film, nor in the DVD's extended scenes.
The character of Nigel was created strictly for the movie; he does not appear in the books. However, he combines elements of Colin Creevey and Dennis Creevey.
Tonk's hair was kept purple instead of pink (like in the books) because the filmmakers felt that the colour pink was associated with Umbridge.
According to Daniel Radcliffe, Devon Murray (Seamus) has the record of most prop wands broken on set with ten during filming.
Several members of the Black family are named after astronomical objects. You can see some of the names in the scene when Sirius and Harry are in the family tree room. Sirius, Regulus, Andromeda, Arcturus, Bellatrix, and Cygnus are the ones that can be seen.
The radish earrings worn by Luna Lovegood were actually made by Evanna Lynch (the actress portraying her).
According to the original script, the character of Kreacher was not intended to be in this film at all. But after J.K. Rowling read the script, she more or less insisted on him needing to be there to avoid some serious problems with future installments of the series. Though Kreacher has no noticeable impact on the plot or story as it's presented in the film, a couple of scenes with him were added at the last minute based on this request.
When they discover the Room of Requirement, Ron asks if it could become a bathroom if the user really needed it. This is a reference to the novel 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. In it, the Room of Requirement is mentioned for the first time, having become a lavatory for Dumbledore.
The character of Grawp was done by using a recent breakthrough in film technology, developed by Image Metrics, which allows a computer to map an actor's performance onto any character virtual or human, living or dead. The result is said to be far superior to standard hand-drawn computer graphics which are very costly and time-consuming.
J.K. Rowling had been a schoolteacher before writing the Potter books, and this film features some references to the British educational system. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, students at age 16 were given Ordinary Level (O-Level) exams in all their major subjects, for which they can receive their General Certificate of Education. This corresponds to the Ordinary Wizarding Level (O.W.L.) exams given at Hogwarts. Students who planned to go on to university stayed on two more years to take their Advanced (A-Level) Exams, which roughly correspond to N.E.W.T. (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test) Exams.
Though not used in the movie, the code to enter the Ministry of Magic from the street is 62442, which spells out the word MAGIC.
Even though they play enemies in this movie, Emma Thompson and Imelda Staunton are very good friends, have appeared together in many films, and even live opposite each other.
Although based on the longest book in the seven book series, this is the second shortest movie in the Harry Potter film series. The longest film, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), is based on the second shortest book.
During filming of the stand-off scene in the Ministry of Magic, Matthew Lewis suffered a perforated eardrum after accidentally moving his head while Helena Bonham Carter had her wand in his ear "..as a sort of Q-Tip...[to] sort of torture [his ear]" Carter said. Lewis was deaf in that ear for a few days afterward, though he laughed about the incident in interviews.
This film reveals several characters to be related to Sirius Black, most notably his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange, whose sister (Narcissa) is Draco Malfoy's mother. One connection that is not made in this film is that Nymphadora Tonks is family as well (first cousin, once removed), as her mother (Andromeda) is sister to both Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. Andromeda's name can be seen on the tapestry in Sirious' house, but her portrait has been burned off; the book explains that her family disowned her for marrying a Muggle-born wizard.
Had the biggest first-day gross of a "Harry Potter" movie.
Helen McCrory was originally cast as Bellatrix Lestrange, but due to pregnancy she had to be replaced by Helena Bonham Carter. McCrory was later cast as Narcissa Malfoy, who is Bellatrix's sister, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009).
In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), when Ron is rescuing Harry from the Dursleys', Ron tells Harry that they were "rescuing you of course". In this film, Moody says the same thing when he rescues Harry.
Since Alastor Moody (Brendan Gleeson) has a prosthetic leg, he could not balance properly on broomstick, being unable to use the stirrups. Instead, his broom has posts at the front where he rests his legs, a seat which allows him to lean backwards, and a control stick for his hands. The arrangement is very similar to automobiles made for double-amputees, which have hand controls instead of pedals.
Much of the Ministry of Magic Atrium set design was based on the designs of London Underground.
Professor Umbridge, though she teaches in a classroom that has appeared in films two through four, inhabits an office vastly different from those of her predecessors. The set was redressed with "fluffy, pink filigree," including a carpet that cost £50,000 to make, and a number of plates upon which moving kittens were animated in post-production. A 24-hour photo shoot was held to photograph and film the kittens for use on these plates. Even the elegant quill which Umbridge gives Harry to write lines using his own blood was designed by the set designers.
In the novel, Umbridge releases at least 25 educational decrees. In the film, she releases way over 100 of them.
Padfoot, Sirius Black's canine alter-ego, was played by a Scottish Deerhound named Cleod.
The walls of Professor Umbridge's office are covered with kitten plates. In the image on one of the plates, the wall behind the kitten has a kitten plate on it.
The Department of Mysteries was the first completely computer-generated set used in the series. Building the set practically was too expensive since an estimated 15000 crystal balls would have been needed, and it would have taken a lot of time to clean and set them up again between takes.
The most expensive set was the 200 foot-long hallway in the Ministry of Magic.
Kenneth Branagh was originally set to return as Prof. Gilderoy Lockhart in a brief cameo. Originally, Harry was to encounter his former professor in an insane asylum while visiting Ron's dad Arthur Weasley at St. Mungo's. The scene was meant to establish Lockhart as irrevocably scarred from his backfired curse in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), as well as the insanity of Neville's parents after being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange. The scene was cut for pacing and budget issues, as it would have necessitated building a new set.
When Sirius joins Harry in the room with the Black family tree, to the lower left of the door is a Starbucks logo. The "siren" (a mermaid with two tails) has been stylized to be in keeping with the decor of the room, but she is wearing a crown and holding both her fins aloft like the Starbucks logo.
Over 30,000 individually placed tiles were used to create the Ministry of Magic sets. As real ceramic tiles would have been far too expensive to produce, they were instead made out of heavily-painted cardboard.
Many Harry Potter fans went to see Happy Feet (2006) just to see a trailer for this film.
The Room of Requirement was described as a room with no beginning or end. To achieve the sense of infinity, the effects crew spent 5 months designing the room by having rotatable mirrors installed that would minimize camera and crew reflection as well as to avoid the Hall of Mirrors effect (a common term in CG). Also, the lighting underneath the grille was quite bright to generate reflection, so the floor had to be in black, cast members had to have black velvet covering their shoe soles while the crew had to wear surgical shoes to prevent treading dust onto the floor set.
The portrait in Dumbledore's office that he addresses as "Phineas" is in fact Phineas Nigellus Black, great-grandfather of Sirius Black and, by extension, Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy; as well as being great-great-grandfather to Draco Malfoy and Nymphadora Tonks.
Harry's, Ron's and Hermione's signatures for the Dumbledore's Army roster are the same signatures seen in the US version of the books.
The set used for Igor Karkaroff's trial scene in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) was doubled in size for Harry's trial in this film, while still protecting its symmetry.
One of only two 'Harry Potter' films not to be nominated for an Academy Award (Oscar) in some category. The other one was Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).
The only Harry Potter film not written by Steve Kloves.
Voldemort and his followers place a great deal of value on blood purity. Ironically, Voldemort is himself half-blooded, having had a witch for a mother and a muggle father.
Fake working title: 'Tip-Top'.
Rose Windsor, a member of the British Royal Family, worked - and is credited as - an Art Department Assistant on this film. Her wedding to a member of the Royal Family was featured in OK! magazine - largely due to Prince William Windsor's girlfriend Kate Middleton attending her wedding. She specifically asked to be credited on Harry Potter as 'Rose Windsor' rather than her full Royal title.
Broke the Wednesday opening day record previously held by Spider-Man 2 (2004) with a 44.2 million dollar domestic gross.
Had the biggest IMAX opening ever, pulling in $1.9 million.
The family of English footballer Theo Walcott makes a cameo in this movie. Theo himself was due to appear, but his commitments to Arsenal F.C. made it impossible.
The first Harry Potter film to be released in IMAX 3-D.
Was released in 4,181 US theaters, a record for a Warner Bros. release.
In late 2005, Anna Friel lobbied for the role of Tonks so that she can work with her real-life partner David Thewlis. She was turned down by the producers.
Saoirse Ronan and Juno Temple were considered for the role of 'Luna Lovegood'. Scarlett Byrne, who later played 'Pansy Parkinson' in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), also auditioned for the role.
Release prints were delivered to theaters with the fake title 'The Raven'.
In the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, many offices are seen layered upon each other. In reality, there are only two layers (floors), but at different times, different people were filmed doing different things in the offices and later with the help of computer animation, put together to get the illusion of several layers of office.
Mira Nair and Jean-Pierre Jeunet were approached to direct the film. Both declined. Jeunet prefers projects that allow him more creative influence.
Final cinema film of Timothy Bateson.
Edgar Bones, the Wizard standing to the left of Dumbledore and directly behind James Potter and Sirius Black, was played by Cliff Lanning (wearing a false mustache), the 1st Assistant Director of the movie.
Dario Marianelli was considered as a possible composer for this film.
Branko Tomovic auditioned for the part of the Azkaban Death Eater, after he was seen in the Serbian-German film Love of Fate (2005) opposite Predrag Bjelac who played Igor Karkaroff in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005). Branko was not cast in Harry Potter but he was later given the lead part in the British short Inbetween (2008) which was also produced by Harry Potter producer David Barron.
The fifth of eight movies based on the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling.


Timothy Spall:  Reprising his role of Peter Pettigrew (Wormtail), seen only in the moving photograph of the original Order.


The trivia items below may give away important plot points.

Harry's scream at the Department of Mysteries was cut out because it was too agonizing.
Daniel Radcliffe can't tolerate contact lenses, so in the scene where Harry is possessed, his eyes are digitally changed.
In the original outline for the novel, the character of Arthur Weasley was to be killed off by Voldemort to entice Harry to the Department of Mysteries. J.K. Rowling couldn't go through with killing off such a beloved character, so Weasley was allowed to survive, albeit gravely injured.
The only jinx we see Neville Longbottom use successfully against an enemy, Petrificus Totalus, 'just happens' to be the very same jinx Hermione used on him in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001).
Originally the death of Sirius Black appeared just as it does in the novel, with Bellatrix pushing him through the death archway after a longer one-on-one duel. Though filmed, the sequence was cut due to time and pacing issues. A portion of this original death scene remains in the final film: when hit with the killing curse, Sirius inexplicably floats backward though the arch.
Though the Mirror of Erised doesn't appear on the novel it turns up in the movie. It can be seen during Harry's possession by Voldemort and when Harry draws closer to the mirror his face is shown distorted with some of the Dark Lord's features. David Yates and Stuart Craig decided to use it as there as one more example of the many appeals to objects and shots from previous movies on the series.

See also


Contribute to This Page