'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix': A retrospective

As the Harry Potter series draws to a close this month with the release of Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on July 15, we're taking a look back at the previous seven movies in the series to chart the rise of JK Rowling's boy wizard.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix marked David Yates's debut as a Harry Potter director, and he's the only person in the series who has been honoured with a 'Best Director' award - from Empire magazine - for his role. It was this movie - the first in the series to receive an IMAX 3D release - that won him the accolade.

Producer David Heyman praised Yates's track record delivering critically-acclaimed British TV dramas like State of Play and Sex Traffic, saying that he thought the director would push the film's young cast to deliver top-notch performances. Steve Kloves, who has penned the screenplays for every other Potter movie, was unavailable and replaced by Michael Goldenberg, who would become part of the screenwriting team for Green Lantern.



Helen McCrory was originally cast in the role of Bellatrix Lestrange, but ultimately pulled out on discovering that she was expecting her first child. She was replaced by Helena Bonham Carter, but would later appear in the franchise as Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother. The film also saw franchise debuts for Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood and for Imelda Staunton, playing the fearsome Dolores Umbridge for the first time.

Principal photography took up most of 2006, including an interruption in May and June to allow Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson to sit AS-levels and GCSE exams respectively. Part of the movie's reported budget of $150 million (£93.5 million) was devoted to new sets, including 12 Grimmauld Place, headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix, the Ministry of Magic's elaborate 200-foot-long hallway and a 'makeover' for the headmaster's office at Hogwarts - including hundreds of Umbridge's favourite wall-mounted ceramic plates featuring moving images of kittens. Interior scenes were mostly shot at Leavesden Studios in Watford, with location shoots in London, Scotland and Oxford.

Order of the Phoenix premiered in Tokyo on June 28, 2007 ahead of its mid-July release. Its noticeably darker tone was only heightened by the cuts made to the original source material - no Quidditch, no Rita Skeeter and no Dobby. The longest book in the series was reduced to the second shortest film at just 138 minutes. Generating over £16 million on its opening weekend in the UK and $77 million during the same time period in the US, the movie received a positive critical reception, with widespread praise for both Staunton and Bonham Carter's performances.

More Harry Potter retrospectives:
> Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
> Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
> Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
> Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Move through our Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix gallery below: