Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007)
- To accurately portray their role in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Daniel Radcliffe spent weeks conducting hands-on research and rehearsing directly with director David Yates.
- Despite initial studio skepticism, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix went on to gross over $942,900,000 worldwide.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a 2007 fantasy film directed by David Yates, the fifth installment in the Harry Potter series and the first of four films Yates would direct in the franchise. The film follows Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts, during which the wizarding world's government, the Ministry of Magic, refuses to believe that Lord Voldemort has returned. The Ministry installs the sadistic bureaucrat Dolores Umbridge, played by Imelda Staunton, as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, who implements increasingly authoritarian policies while refusing to teach practical defensive magic.
In response, Harry secretly forms Dumbledore's Army, a student resistance group that trains in combat spells. Imelda Staunton's performance as Umbridge became one of the most memorable in the entire franchise โ her portrayal of the pink-clad, kitten-obsessed tyrant who masks cruelty behind a veneer of sweetness made Umbridge arguably more loathed by audiences than Voldemort himself. David Yates brought a more politically charged sensibility to the franchise, drawing parallels between the Ministry's denial and institutional bureaucracy's resistance to uncomfortable truths.
The film condensed Rowling's longest novel into the franchise's second-shortest film, a significant adaptation challenge that screenwriter Michael Goldenberg handled by focusing on Harry's emotional journey and sense of isolation. The climactic battle in the Department of Mysteries featured the franchise's most spectacular magical duel between Dumbledore and Voldemort, while also delivering one of the series' most devastating character deaths. Order of the Phoenix earned $942 million worldwide.





