Harry Potter (film series) for the third film, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban", claiming he was "burned out". He moved to the position of producer, while Alfonso Cuarón was approached for the role of director. He was initially nervous about directing the instalment since he had not read any of the books or seen the films. After reading the series, he changed his mind and signed on to direct since he had immediately connected to the story. Because Cuarón decided not to direct the fourth instalment, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", a new director had to be selected. Mike Newell
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film) £19.75 million (equivalent to about $38.13 million), the highest opening for both the series and releases of 2009. At the end of the film's US and Canadian box office run the total ticket sales of the film were $302 million, making it the third most successful film in the franchise, after "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2" and "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone", as well as the third-highest-grossing film of 2009 in these regions behind "Avatar" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen". As with all of the previous films in the franchise, "Half-Blood Prince" proved to