<P> British television director David Yates was chosen to direct the film after Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire director Mike Newell, as well as Jean - Pierre Jeunet, Guillermo del Toro, Matthew Vaughn and Mira Nair, turned down offers . Yates believed he was approached because the studio saw him fit to handle an "edgy and emotional" film with a "political backstory", which some of his previous television projects including State of Play, Sex Traffic and The Girl in the Café demonstrated . Producer David Heyman supported Yates' comments about the film's political theme, stating that "(Order of the Phoenix) is a political film, not with a capital P, but it's about teen rebellion and the abuse of power . David has made films in the UK about politics without being heavy handed ." On the film's political and social aspects, Emma Watson stated that "somehow it talks about life after 7 July, the way people behave when they're scared, the way truth is often denied and all the things our society has to face . Facing the fact that the authority is corrupted means having a non-conformist approach to reality and power ." </P> <P> Steve Kloves, the screenwriter of the first four Potter films, had other commitments . Michael Goldenberg, who was considered to pen the first film in the series, filled in and wrote the script . </P> <P> Rehearsals for Order of the Phoenix began on 27 January 2006, filming began on 7 February 2006 and finished at the start of December 2006 . Filming was put on a two - month hiatus starting in May 2006 so Radcliffe could sit his A / S Levels and Watson could sit her GCSE exams . The film's budget was reportedly between GB £ 75 and 100 million (US $150--200 million). The largest budget of the other films in the series has been the £ 75 million it cost to make Goblet of Fire . </P> <P> Mark Day was the film editor, Sławomir Idziak was the cinematographer, and Jany Temime was the costume designer . Choreographer Paul Harris, who had previously worked with David Yates several times, created a physical language for wand combat to choreograph the wand fighting scenes . </P>

Who owns the rights to order of the phoenix