Brave Newell World

It's hard enough taking on the responsibility of a mammoth screen franchise without upsetting the legions of fans and starting a riot, but Mike Newell really has his work cut out with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Not only does the director have to allay the fears of wary fans and take the biggest Harry Potter book adapted so far and shrink it down to a bladder-friendly length, he also has to account for the new direction taken by Prisoner Azkaban director, Alfonso Cuar. Scheduled to begin work in April or May of next year, Newell has spoken at length with Cuarón - who replaces Philosopher's Stone and Chamber of Secrets director, Chris Columbus - in preparation for picking up the torch. "What Alfonso has done very remarkably is he's developed the films from a sunny vision of childhood into something that is much darker and blacker," Newell told Sci-Fi Wire. "And he's done that without taking away any of the romance of the thing. But he has transformed it into adolescence, and I must go on from what he's done. [I] can't go back." For those unconverted by the first two films, it should come as welcome news that forthcoming chapters will be taking a different approach to the Potter saga, replacing fuzzy sentiment with a more edgy tale of teenage spellcraft. Newell will, of course, be sticking to the same principal cast ("They're all actually the age they are in the story,") but there are still challenges to overcome as the tale abandons traditional Hogwarts term-time in favour of the epic Tri-Wizard tournament. "I am currently working with dragons," says Newell knowingly.