ENTERTAINMENT NEWS Briton Newell to direct Harry Potter film August 8, 2003 LOS ANGELES - British movie maker Mike Newell has agreed to direct the fourth in the Harry Potter blockbuster films, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, producers said Monday. The acclaimed 61-year-old, who will be the first Briton to direct one of the hit films about the English boy wizard, was responsible for 1994's smash hit Four Weddings and A Funeral, and gangster flick Donnie Brasco. Newell recognised the daunting task he faces in making the latest of the movies based on J.K. Rowling's books. The first two films netted a combined $1.9 billion at the box office. "As audiences have become more familiar with both the books and the movies, there has been an increasing challenge to continue to develop each of these characters and to make their world real on the screen," he said. Work on the picture is scheduled to get underway in Britain in April next year with Newell directing, David Heyman producing and with Steve Kloves writing the screenplay. It will be released in late 2005. The change in director was forced by a clash in schedules between Goblet of Fire pre-production and work on the third in the series, "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," which is being made in England and Scotland under Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron. "He has the ability to get tremendous performances from his actors, and handles drama and comedy equally well," said Warner Bros.' production chief Jeff Robinov in a statement. "We've been lucky to have worked with excellent filmmakers on the first three Harry Potter movies and we are looking forward to continuing that tradition as we start on this next movie with Mike." Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets were directed by US filmmaker Chris Columbus and released in late 2001 and 2002. Newell has just wrapped up production on his latest movie Mona Lisa Smile, starring Julia Roberts. -Sapa-AFP