Newell accepts Potter challenge

Four Weddings and a Funeral film-maker Mike Newell has been confirmed as director of the fourth Harry Potter movie.

The 61-year-old will become the first Brit to take charge of a volume of JK Rowling's witchcraft and wizardry series when he starts work on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in April 2004.

Newell's credits also include gangster flick Donnie Brasco and forthcoming Julia Roberts vehicle Mona Lisa Smile.

He said: "I'm very excited about directing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. 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 screen."

The first two movies in the saga of the boy wizard were directed by American Chris Columbus, while Mexican film-maker Alfonso Cuaron is directing the upcoming Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

There has been speculation that the fourth film, based on the JK Rowling book of the same name, will be made into two movies. The paperback version is 636 pages long, and the celluloid adaptations of its two far shorter prequels both struggled to come in at under three hours.

Goblet of Fire producer David Heyman described Newell as the "perfect choice" for the fourth movie, saying: "He has worked with children, made us laugh, and had us sitting on the edge of our seats. He is great with actors and imbues all his characters, all his films, with great humanity. I'm thrilled."