Alfonso Cuarón credits Harry Potter for making ‘Children of Men’ possible

Speaking at the Busan International Film Festival, two-time Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón said Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban taught him visual effects and opened the door to his dystopian classic Children of Men.

Alfonso Cuarón, the Mexican filmmaker behind Gravity and Roma, looked back on his 2004 turn in the Harry Potter franchise during his first-ever visit to South Korea for the 31st Busan International Film Festival.

Cuarón said he had been “a little reluctant” when the third Potter film was offered to him, as he had not written it. Yet the project became one of the most rewarding experiences of his career and gave him “two of the most beautiful years of my life,” he said Thursday, according to an AFP report carried by Türkiye Today.

Alfonso Cuarón and his son Jonás Cuarón at a joint press conference in Busan

From a box-office flop to a classic

The director said he knew nothing about visual effects before Azkaban, but they had become “second nature” by the end of the shoot. The film’s success, he added, allowed him to make Children of Men, a script he had written earlier that no one wanted to produce. “I have nothing but gratitude towards Harry Potter,” he said.

Busan Cinema Center, home of the Busan International Film Festival

Children of Men flopped at the box office and drew mediocre reviews on its 2006 release, Cuarón noted, but is now widely discussed — proof, in his view, that success is not measured by box office, critics or awards.

His festival master class was moderated by Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho, whose 2025 thriller Revelations Cuarón executive produced. Cuarón is attending the festival, which runs through Oct. 15, alongside his son, director Jonás Cuarón.