The latest Harry Potter film,
The Half Blood Prince, is well on its way to becoming the most successful film in the series to date,
setting a midnight screening record and pulling in $22.3 million dollars in just over 3,000 theaters on its opening night.
Half Blood Prince is the second consecutive Potter film directed by David Yates. A relative newcomer when it comes to cinema, Yates previously made a name for himself as an award winning TV director in Britain. That puts him at odds with the three previous Potter directors – Chris Columbus, Alfonso Cueron, and Mike Newell – who all had a substantial film career prior to taking on the challenge of visualizing one of the most beloved children’s books of all time. We thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the careers of these men prior to (and after) they directed
Harry Potter. One thing is clear: in terms of the budget and box office gross, the
Harry Potter films were a high point in each director’s career.
(Click the image below to enlarge)