David Yates directed four films in the saga Harry Potterdont The Half-Blood Princeoffered this Wednesday October 30 on TMC. But the filmmaker was not the first choice. Terry Gilliam had been contacted but he preferred to decline the offer. I have fun explains why.
Like every Wednesday evening, TMC will broadcast this Wednesday October 30 at 9:25 p.m. the sixth opus of the saga Harry Potteradapted from the famous books by JK Rowling. The Half-Blood Prince continues the adventures of the wizard who returns to Hogwarts School for a new year, alongside his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. In a potions class, he discovers at the bottom of a cupboard a book that once belonged to the mysterious half-blood prince. While our hero tries to discover his identity, Lord Voldemort strengthens his grip on the wizarding and muggle worlds. His allies kidnap wand maker Mr. Ollivander and destroy London’s Millennium Bridge.
Released in 2009, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had attracted more than six million French fans to the cinema. It was directed by David Yates, author of a total of four parts of the franchise. But the position had previously been offered to Terry Gilliam, to whom we owe Monty Python: Holy Grail! (1975), Las Vegas Parano (1998) or even The Brothers Grimm. The American filmmaker refused, upset at not having been chosen sooner, even though he really wanted to shoot the first film, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.
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Terry Gilliam : “Warner Bros. had his chance the first time, and they blew it.”
“JK Rowling and the producer wanted me. Then wiser people — the studio execs — took over. I was the obvious choice though.“, he confided to Entertainment Weekly. Several years later, when he was finally offered the opportunity to join the adventure, he declined the offer. “Warner Bros. had his chance the first time, and they blew it. It’s a factory job, that’s what it is, and I know how it’s done. I had too many friends who worked on these films. I know how it works, and that’s not how I work“, he explained on October 13, 2006, during an interview with MTV. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince can be found this Wednesday, October 30 on TMC.
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