Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (Japanese: ), also known in many European editions as Furyo (俘虜, Japanese for "prisoner of war"), is a 1983 British-Japanese wartime drama film directed by Nagisa Oshima, produced by Jeremy Thomas and starring David Bowie, Tom Conti, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Takeshi Kitano and Jack Thompson. The screenplay by Oshima with Paul Mayersberg was based on Sir Laurens van der Post's experiences as a Japanese prisoner of war during World War II as depicted in his works "The Seed and the Sower" (1963) and "The Night of the New Moon" (1970). Sakamoto also wrote
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) it was only the year's sixth-highest-grossing film, making $249.5 million. Everywhere else in the world, however, it was the year's number one film, making $547 million compared to "Shrek 2's" $478.6 million. Despite its successful box office run, "Azkaban" is the lowest-grossing "Harry Potter" film (all the others have grossed more than $800 million worldwide) and the second lowest-grossing film of the "Wizarding World" series (behind ""). "Prisoner of Azkaban" is often regarded by critics and fans as one of the best films in the franchise. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 91%