Which Harry Potter film was the first to be produced without Chris Columbus as director?

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban was the first Harry Potter film produced without Chris Columbus as director.

Chris Columbus directed the first two films, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Alfonso Cuarón directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was released in 2004. Cuarón brought a darker visual style and a more openly adolescent tone to the series.

The film adapts the third novel and introduces Sirius Black, played by Gary Oldman, along with the werewolf professor Remus Lupin, played by David Thewlis. Michael Gambon also first appeared as Albus Dumbledore after Richard Harris died in 2002.

The film is sometimes confused with the first installment to change directors overall, but that distinction belongs specifically to Prisoner of Azkaban. Later films were directed by Mike Newell and David Yates.