Exclusive 1-1 With David Heyman On Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

By Ian Spelling on July 3, 2007

David Heyman wants to make something perfectly clear.
 
Back in 1997, when he first read Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by an unknown author named J.K. Rowling, he had no idea whatsoever that the book would launch an international publishing and film phenomenon. Rather, at the time, he was a producer who read an as-yet-unpublished manuscript and took the gamble of securing the film rights. Today, Heyman oversees the big-screen end of the Potter phenomenon, as he’s produced Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – first, publisher Scholastic and later studio Warner Bros. both rightly figured U.S. audiences wouldn’t know what a Philosopher’s Stone was, so they altered the title to Sorcerer’s Stone – Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire and, now, Order of the Phoenix, directed by David Yates and set to open nationwide on July 11.
 
“I didn’t have a clue,” Heyman says. “I knew there’d be seven books, but I had no notion that we’d be making two films, let alone seven. One was even a dream because so many projects end up in development (and no further). So I had no idea, but as the process evolved it became clear that it was becoming a phenomenon. By the time we were making the first film the third book had come out and they were one, two and three on the New York Times bestseller list, so we knew we were part of something special. But even then, when we had the opening weekend of the first film and all the box office receipts were tallied, it was a complete surprise. And, of course, it set a very high bar that we have to meet now.”
 
Meeting that bar falls to the fifth film in the Potter franchise, Order of the Phoenix. This time around, young Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) grows increasingly aware of his connection with Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes). Meanwhile, new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) arrives at Hogwarts on a mission: she’s actually working for the Ministry of Magic and Cornelius Fudge, who outright dismisses any suggestion that Voldemort may be back. They want Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) out as headmaster at Hogwarts, seek to discredit him and Harry, and institute all sorts of restrictions on the students and staff at Hogwarts, prompting a rebellion led by Harry, who’s helped by Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson). Along the way, Harry finds a short-lived period of respite in a romance with Cho Chang (Katie Leung).
 
In addition to the Harry-Voldemort battles, the Hogwarts politics and the infamous Harry-Cho kiss, there’s an ominous feeling for Harry of not knowing whom to trust anymore. What’s Snape (Alan Rickman) really up to, for example? Is he on Harry’s side or does he answer to Voldemort? “There’s a sense of secret organizations,” Heyman confirms. “You have people who don’t believe what’s going on. You have the treasured few who do. And you also have the relationships building and the kids growing. So, yes, it’s a magical universe. There’s fantasy and action and all of that, but at its heart it’s about these three kids and them experiencing life from age 11 to 17 and going on this remarkable journey and facing challenges together. I think that’s something we can all relate to in some form or another.”
 
Even as he gets ready to send Order of the Phoenix out into theaters worldwide, Heyman has his eye on both Half-Blood Prince and the final film, The Deathly Hallows. It’s been announced that Radcliffe, Watson and Grint will return for the two installments and that Yates will be behind the camera again when production begins in the fall on Half-Blood Prince. “We’re working on the script,” Heyman reveals of Half-Blood Prince. “We’re working on the storyboards. We’re working on designs, but it’s early days.” As for The Deathly Hallows, Heyman reports that he can’t wait to read the book, which will arrive in stores a couple of weeks after Order of the Phoenix premieres in theaters. “I’m sure I’ll be a little sad when it’s all over, but I don’t know what happens,” Heyman swears. “I have my thoughts, but I’m sure everybody has a theory. I can’t wait to read the end, to read the last chapter, because while it’s book seven it’s one saga.”
 
At this point, many readers, when they peruse the Potter books, envision the Potter universe as it’s been rendered on film and see the faces of Radcliffe, Watson and Grint when they think of Harry, Hermione and Ron. It’s fair to ask, then, as the films have caught up with the books, if Rowling has ever said to Heyman that she’s crafted elements in her more recent stories based on the performances of the actors in the films or on what’s been visualized by the various directors, production designers and effect supervisors. “No, she specifically hasn’t,” Heyman explains. “She has not done it and she has said she has not done it. I think the books and the films are somewhat separate in a way. She has seen the fifth film and absolutely loved it. She is incredibly supportive of what we do. She is there to answer questions, to give us information that isn’t even in the books. Sometimes, when you’re showing something in a film it’s only three lines in the book. For example, the Black family tapestry is only a couple of names in (Order of the Phoenix), but when we put it in the film we have to show it. So I called Jo and said, ‘Please, can you give us a few more names?’ About 15 or 20 minutes later I was faxed through the Black family tree, which went back around six generations and had 75 names on it, with their birthdays and death dates, who they’d married, etc., etc.”
 
Though he’s best known for producing the Potter films, Heyman’s also overseen Juice, The Daytrippers, Ravenous and Taking Lives, and the TV series Threshold. And right now, he’s working on I Am Legend and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. I Am Legend stars Will Smith, is directed by Francis Lawrence and will be released in December by Warner Bros. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, for Miramax, is based on a novel by John Boyne and is currently in production in Budapest under the direction of Mark Herman.
 
“I Am Legend is a project I initiated with Neil Moritz,” Heyman notes. “It was 12 years ago, 13 years ago. It’s been through many iterations and it’s very exciting to see it come to the screen. It’s most certainly gone through an evolution from Ridley Scott and Arnold Schwarzenegger to the current team. I haven’t been there the whole time or at all, really. I helped develop the initial drafts, but it’s been taken over by Akiva Goldsman, who’s been doing a yeoman’s job. I think it’s going to be really good.
 
“Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is about the relationship between a young boy who’s the son of a commandant of a concentration camp and a boy on the other side of the fence,” adds Heyman, who’s also producing Yes Man with Jim Carrey set to star and Peyton Reed directing. “It’s beautiful and moving, and it’s a story as resonant today as it was at the time it’s set. It’s a beautiful tale of friendship and overcoming prejudice. The tagline is, ‘The innocence of youth, the ignorance of man.’”

Source:Latino Review

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