WHEN 'HARRY' MET ALFONSO DIRECTOR CUARON DELIVERS A HORMONALLY CHARGED WIZARD WITH `PRISONER OF AZKABAN'.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Staff Writer

``Harry Potter'' fans have never had a real problem with the film adaptations of J.K. Rowling's mega-selling books. It's the rest of us who have been squirming in our seats. Chris Columbus' ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone'' and ``Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'' were too literal, too obvious and - most of all - too long for nonbelievers to suffer through.

And don't think the filmmakers weren't aware of the problem.

``The adults absolutely hated us,'' says screenwriter Steve Kloves, who has adapted the first four of Rowling's books for the screen. ``We were all such big fans of the books, Chris in particular. He loved the books so much that he wanted to include every possible thing he could. So they became very long. I always wanted them shorter, but Chris would ask me to put stuff back in. He wanted to give everyone everything. It's something we all wrestled with. How much is too much?''

That's why Alfonso Cuaron was the right man to direct the third installment in the series, ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.'' Cuaron had not read any of Rowling's books or seen either of the two movies. They simply didn't interest him. In fact, coming off the critical art-house hit ``Y Tu Mama Tambien,'' Cuaron wasn't all that flattered when Warner Bros. sent him Kloves' ``Azkaban'' script for consideration. He tossed it in a pile. ``Why would I want to do a sequel?'' he thought. (Reading Kloves' work ultimately changed his mind.)

That ability to separate himself from the ``Harry Potter'' phenomenon enabled Cuaron to make a movie that remains faithful to the spirit of Rowling's work without being slavishly devoted to it. Even though ``Azkaban'' is the longest book thus far to make it to the screen, it's the briefest movie, running a good 20 minutes shorter (and thanks to Cuaron's camera movement, it feels even quicker) than ``Chamber of Secrets.''

``Alfonso freed us from the text,'' Kloves says. ``It's a real aggressive take on the material that demands more from the audience. It's really for the book's best audience. We pose questions, and instead of answering them immediately, we take 20 or 30 minutes. You have to pay attention. And the price of admission includes familiarity. I can't keep telling you who Dumbledore is or I would simply go crazy.''

Says Cuaron: ``It's all about eliminating redundancies. We decided to be precise about what our theme was and then cut away anything that didn't follow in that direction.''

That theme, as Cuaron puts it, is identity, specifically Harry Potter's search for his own. In ``Azkaban'' Harry is being hunted by Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), a convicted murderer who apparently betrayed the young wizard's late parents to the evil Lord Voldemort. Harry must not only deal with the specter of Sirius, but also soul-sucking Dementors and his continued haunted dreams about his beloved mom and dad.

It's pretty dark stuff - even the obligatory Quidditch match takes place during a thundering rainstorm.

``It's about a kid turning 13 and coming to grips with his own identity and learning to accept and embrace the father energy within,'' Cuaron says. ``Being 13 is misery. I remember. It's not a happy time. You're realizing that the monster isn't hiding under the bed, it's inside you. And then you eventually learn that what's also inside you is the ability to beat the monster.''

What also makes ``Azkaban'' a better ``Potter'' is that its three child leads - Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint - have learned how to act. Call it on-the-job training, but having two movies under their belts gave the kids confidence and, more important, a desire to really explore their characters.

``You look at the first movie and it's quite choppy because they couldn't speak more than a line or two without looking at the camera,'' says the series' producer David Heyman. ``Chris (Columbus) trained them. Now they're able to do whole scenes in one shot. There's no way that could have been done, even in the last film.''

In other words, the kids are growing up. That's certainly the message delivered by the hundreds of frantic, screeching young girls standing outside Radio City Music Hall last week for the film's premiere, who shrieked at every move Grint and, particularly, Radcliffe made. (Radcliffe: ``They're certainly good at screaming.'')

And, during filming, when Cuaron needed Radcliffe to convey the proper look of astonishment, he took his young charge aside and coached: ``Pretend you're seeing Cameron Diaz in a G-string.'' (Cuaron: ``It worked. I'll let audiences guess what shot it is. I don't want everyone thinking about Cameron Diaz in a G-string.'')

Though Cuaron says making ``Potter'' is ``the only smart thing I've ever done in my life,'' he passed on returning for the next movie, ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' which began shooting last month with Mike Newell (``Four Weddings and a Funeral'') directing. It's not that they didn't ask. They did - more than a year ago. And Cuaron loves ``Goblet,'' calling it his favorite book. He just didn't see himself as a Peter Jackson (``Lord of the Rings''), the kind of filmmaker who could punish himself for years running, working on huge, time-consuming movies.

``You do a 'Harry Potter' movie and it's like being invited to drive the most amazing car on Earth, so mighty, so powerful, so luxurious, with the best stereo and access to any single piece of music you want,'' Cuaron says. ``And you get to drive that car from L.A. to New York and they're going to clear all the roads for you. There's one catch: There's no pee stop, no lunch stop, no stopping at all.''

So when does Cuaron get to pee?

``When I finish promoting the movie in a month,'' he answers, laughing heartily. ``I have such yellow eyes right now.''

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com

The future of HARRY

HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE

Status: Currently filming

Release date: Nov. 18, 2005

Director: Mike Newell (``Four Weddings and a Funeral,'' ``Donnie Brasco'')

Screenwriter: Steve Kloves

Cast additions: Brendan Gleeson as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher Mad-Eye Moody; Frances de la Tour as Madame Maxime, headmistress of Beauxbatons. London tabloids are reporting that 16-year-old Scottish unknown Katie Leung has been cast as Harry's first crush, Cho Chang.

Returning: John Hurt as Mr. Ollivander (``Sorcerer's Stone''), Jason Isaacs as Lucius Malfoy (``Chamber of Secrets'')

Plot: Harry wants to get away from the pernicious Dursleys and go to the International Quidditch Cup with Hermione, Ron and the Weasleys. He wants to dream about Cho Chang, his crush (and maybe do more than dream). He wants to find out about the mysterious event that is supposed to take place at Hogwarts this year, something involving two other rival schools of magic and a competition that hasn't happened for a hundred years. He wants to be a normal, 14-year-old wizard. Unfortunately for Harry Potter, he's not normal, even by wizard standards. (From Scholastic)

Screenwriter Kloves on the challenges and rewards of adapting ``Goblet of Fire'': ``It's a 734-page book. We always thought it would be two movies, but we could never figure out a way to break it in two. So it will be a different experience from the book.

``What's interesting about 'Goblet' is that the boys and girls really start noticing each other. And Mike Newell, having done 'Four Weddings and a Funeral,' is the perfect man to capture all that social interaction. It's going to be a lot of fun.''

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX

Status: ``We have to get the script off and running because we'd like to shoot in the fall of 2005,'' producer David Heyman says. Screenwriter Kloves, who has adapted the previous four ``Potter'' books for the screen, remains undecided about signing up for ``Phoenix.'' His first priority is to write and direct an adaptation of Mark Haddon's singular murder-mystery (the sleuth is an autistic 15-year-old boy) ``The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time.''

``It would be heartbreaking to leave,'' Kloves says.

Expect Heyman, who's also producing ``The Curious Incident,'' to work out a scheduling compromise.

Release date: June 2007

Director: Unknown (Alfonso Cuaron has expressed an interest in returning for this one or book six.)

Screenwriter: Possibly Kloves (see above)

Returning characters: Gary Oldman as Sirius Black

Casting unknowns: The three kid leads - Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson - are signed only through the first four movies. Their status for ``Phoenix'' will largely rest on how much they grow between films. One, two or all three may be replaced.

``When they've asked me about book five, my question is, 'Are Dan, Emma and Rupert coming back?' '' Kloves says. ``It matters to me. They are the heart of these movies.''

Cuaron: ``They'll be back. I think they should make all seven movies with these kids. It would be amazing. And it can be done. I don't think they're going to get that much taller. It's not like Dan is going to grow another eye.''

Producer Heyman: ``If they are of the right age and they want to do it, we'll make it work. One day, it might not, though. And that would be sad, but that time may eventually come.''

Plot: J.K. Rowling's 870-page (!) novel finds Harry as a surly teenager, returning to Hogwarts to find it being run like a fascist state, courtesy of a new Dark Arts teacher. Harry also learns of an ancient prophecy linking him to Voldemort. There's a much more serious tone here than in the previous ``Potter'' works.

- G.W.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) A leaner meaner, (sexier?) HARRY POTTER

(2) ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' director Alfonso Cuaron, left (going over a scene with Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint), says he tried to keep a tight focus on the movie's theme: ``It's about a kid turning 13 and coming to grips with his own identity.''

(3) Emma Watson as Hermione

Box:

The future of HARRY (see text)