Warner Bros. announced on November 19, 2005 that David Yates would helm the fifth film in the hugely successful Harry Potter series,
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Yates was involved extensively in television dramas for the BBC prior to his work on
Phoenix, but he had never directed a motion picture before. A month after his hiring, Yates said, "I was really thrilled, and excited by the prospect. It's the kind of scale of film I've wanted to make since I was 14....I’m really looking forward to it, and am working my way through all of the books, and starting to get a bit addicted to the world which is fantastic and wonderfully realised." Producer David Heyman was similarly excited: "I am thrilled that David Yates is going to direct 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.' Not only does he have tremendous passion for the world of Harry Potter, but he is a great director with a keen visual sense who fills every frame with humanity and compassion for his characters."
From December 2003 to November 2004, a number of rumors about the director for HP5 made their way around the Internet; more information on each one can be found at the
"Search for a Director" page. Less than a week later,
Michael Goldenberg signed on as the scriptwriter for the movie, making
Phoenix the first in the Harry Potter series to be written by someone other than Steve Kloves.
Pre-production on
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix began on February 19, 2005, but actual filming did not begin until Monday, February 6, 2006, two and a half months after
Goblet of Fire was released in cinemas worldwide and almost an entire year after filming on the fourth movie wrapped.
By May 2005, Yates had spent a considerable amount of time planning the movie out, and he revealed in an interview with
The Independent that he was hoping to shoot a sequence in the movie on the Thames River. He
then said a month later that he had "been in a whirl of meetings" with Warner Bros. executives about the film and was "having a fantastic time just as we're starting out." Around the same time, Producer David Heyman
said that he was considering filming parts of
Order of the Phoenix outside the UK: "We are exploring all options to determine the best place in the world to make the film. We are looking at the UK and other places all over the world."
On May 4, 2005, Daniel Radcliffe said in an interview with
USA Today that he would reprise his role as Harry Potter in the movie. Confirmations from
Ralph Fiennes,
Rupert Grint, and
Julie Walters came in later months.
From September to December 2005, Warner Bros. casting directors scoured English schools, looking for a girl to play Luna Lovegood in
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They also accepted mailed-in resumes during that time period, but said that they would not hold an open casting call for Luna, as they did with Cho Chang and the Patil twins for
Goblet of Fire. However, the casting directors' search did not produce the results they had hoped for, so they backed off their earlier statement and
held an open casting call in London on January 14, 2006. The turnout trumped all expectations, with 15,000 girls queuing for hours upon hours in the cold weather on that Saturday. Less than three weeks after the open call,
WB announced that 14 year-old Evanna Lynch had been cast as Luna.
Warner Bros. also announced the addition of four other new cast members - Natalia Tena as Nymphadora Tonks, Imelda Staunton as Professor Umbridge, Helen McCrory as Bellatrix Lestrange, and Kathryn Hunter as Mrs. Figg. - on the same day.
When JK Rowling flew down to London for the British Book Awards over the weekend of March 28, 2006, she also stopped by the
Order of the Phoenix set, marking her first Harry Potter set visit in several years. She later documented this visit on her
official website, saying: "It was exciting to see some of the new Order of the Phoenix sets, but most of all to see the actors again – slightly unnerving to realise that nearly all of them are taller than me now....I had a great time talking to Dan and Matthew about books, Rupert about how his sisters never wind him up, Oliver and James about how difficult they find it to wind each other up, and Emma about Hermione's love life. Also met, and had a long chat, with Evanna Lynch (Luna), about whom there is only one possible thing to say: perfect."
On April 5, 2006, Warner Bros. informed Veritaserum that the
Order of the Phoenix movie would be released on July 13, 2007, as had been previously rumored online. A teaser trailer is expected sometime later this year.
Filming will temporarily cease in the middle of May 2006 so that Daniel Radcliffe (Harry) and Emma Watson (Hermione) can take exams. Emma will be taking her GCSEs, while Dan will sit his A2s (as part of the first year of his A Levels). Filming will then pick up again sometime in July.
Filming Timeline:
