Harry Potter Compared: Book Page Count Vs Movie Length - Culturess

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Movies:
  • Part 1: 146 minutes
  • Part 2: 130 minutes

This reveals some weird facts. For example, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the longest of the movies, despite it being the second-shortest of the books. On the flip side, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is the second-shortest of the movies, despite it being the lengthiest novel.

Why the discrepancy? We can’t be sure, but I can hazard a few guesses. The first two movies were directed by Chris Columbus, so maybe it was his influence that fattened up the running times. Also, I can imagine Warner Bros. pushing for a lengthier movies towards the beginning of the franchise, high as they were on being in possession of one of the hottest properties in entertainment.

Alfonso Cuarón took over for Prisoner of Azkaban, and he may have preferred brevity. Going back the other way, director Mike Newell may have pushed for bulk when he handled Goblet of Fire, the longest film in the franchise. The movies in the back half of the series were directed by David Yates, and with the exception of Half-Blood Prince, they had relatively reasonable running times. It seems he was an efficient fellow.

There are probably other behind-the-scenes reasons at work here as well, but it’s hard not to wonder if a few of the movies would have benefitted from an adjustment in their running times. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in particular, could have used some more content. Phoenix is arguably the richest of the novels, and the movie rushed too quickly some of the emotions.

Next: Do we need a Harry Potter TV show?

Ah, well—we can’t change the past. Complaining about it, on the other hand…

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