DAVID YATES WILL BE DIRECTING ORDER OF THE PHOENIX Earlier we told you about David Yates (a British film-maker) being the director for Order of the Phoenix', the fifth film in the Potter franchise.
It was only a few days or a week ago that David Heyman announced that Michael Goldenberg would be scripting the film - he did also add that the announcement of a director for the fifth film would come before the end of this year.
Variety:
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Days after setting relative newcomer Michael Goldenberg to script "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Warner Bros. and producer David Heyman are close to setting Yates to direct the fifth installment of the franchise. Pic is slated to start production late 2005 and hit theaters in summer 2007.
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Like Goldenberg, Yates was a surprise choice. Yates has only one bigscreen credit: the 1998 feature "The Tichborne Claimant." But his television work is what cast a spell on WB brass and Heyman, with prize-winning dramas that include "The Way We Live Now" and miniseries "State of Play."
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Yates, who sparked to the idea of a film in which the student wizard navigates the hormonal cauldron, will likely have a directing deal in place by next week.
The Leaky Cauldron then reported that David Yates was one of the people in the running for the job however no director had been decided on yet.
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Two separate WB spokespeople emphatically said today that the info that David Yates has already been chosen as director for OotP is false. Many directors are in the mix and in talks with producers, they said, including Yates. David Heyman told people at last night's DVD launch party that we'll have an official director announcement by Christmas or a short while before. Yates is in the running, but so are others, so hang tight.
UPDATE: TLC then reported the following:
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And now different spokespeople are telling us different things and we're sorting out which person is more right than the other. We're keeping this firmly in the rumor column until we get two different confirmations (or the third denial).
It seemed someone other than Variety had confirmed David Yates as the director while two sources had claimed that WB were still in talks with directors.
Empire are now reporting that David Yates has been given the job of directing OotP:
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It's been mere days since news reached us that Michael Goldenberg would be filling in for writer Steve Kloves on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and now a new director is set to join him. Picking up where Mike Newell leaves of with The Goblet of Fire, David Yates will go on to usher young Harry into his fifth year at Hogwarts.
Who? David Yates, that's who, though we're not surprised you haven't heard of him. Yates is a relatively unknown director whose CV consists mainly of TV work. His primary film credit to date is 1998 Brit aristocracy drama The Tichborne Claimant, but fear not because he's also the man behind the excellent State of Play, which proved John Simm was far more than just Human Traffic.
FINALLY IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED! David Yates will be directing Order of the Phoenix -
Mugglenet have been sent confirmation by Warner Brothers!
He will be directing alongside the new screenwriter, Michael Goldenberg!