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In the book HP and the Deathly Hallows, Harry, Ron, and Hermione Apparate away from Bill and Fleur's wedding to Tottenham Court Road in London, where they go to a cafe and end up duelling with a pair of Death Eaters before fleeing to Grimmauld Place.

In the film HP and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, more or less the same happens, except that these scenes are set in Shaftesbury Avenue instead.

Both these streets are real London streets, but for some reason the filmmakers chose to change the location. Has any reason been given for this change?

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    I actually intentionally watched this movie on Tottenham Court Road, and would LOVE an explanation for why I was disappointed.
    – TenthJustice
    Nov 21, 2015 at 15:16

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I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been any official statement on the change (or if there has, I’ve been unable to find it). Here are a few guesses:

  • Shaftesbury Avenue is quite an iconic location.

    As you can see in the film, they apparate right beside the Piccadilly Circus screens. Here’s a screencap, where I’ve tried to indicate roughly where the trio should be (just beside Gap):

    enter image description here

    The film was made for a global audience – perhaps they thought this was a good way to say “London!”. I’m not sure there are any equally iconic London locations on Tottenham Court.

    (And the number of people who’d notice the difference from the books is small.)

  • It may have been harder to film on Tottenham Court Road.

    I have a limited knowledge of London, but I’m pretty sure Tottenham Court is a busier road than Shaftesbury Ave (which is a bit off-centre). That may have made it tricky to film in Tottenham Court Rd, and if they weren’t wedded to accuracy, they may just have looked for an easier location to use.

    This may be compounded by the fact that there were major construction works at Tottenham Court Road station in 2009–10, which is exactly when filming for Deathly Hallows: Part 1 was taking place.

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    Are you ignoring the fact that placing them there was an excellent opportunity for product-placement? I see Gap, Samsung, Sanyo and a couple of others just in that one shot.
    – Valorum
    Nov 7, 2015 at 14:31
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    Product placement: Ford Anglia
    – DVK-on-Ahch-To
    Nov 7, 2015 at 15:47
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    Certainly Tottenham Court Road was pretty unrecognisable when those works were going on. Seems like a very likely reason.
    – razethestray
    Nov 7, 2015 at 15:52
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    @DVK A car that’s faulty, used in an illegal drive across the country, and runs away after being beaten up by a tree? Great product placement. :-P
    – alexwlchan
    Nov 7, 2015 at 15:58
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    @alexwlchan The car did come back and save them in CoS from the Acromantula - like a boss. That right there is product placement. :D
    – Brindha
    Nov 8, 2015 at 5:07
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I did a Harry Potter tour last year and asked this question to the tour guide as the inconsistency was something that had bothered me. Apparently they were not allowed to film at Tottenham Court Road due to the problems it would have caused to the buses.

This was the tour I did FYI - https://www.seethesightstours.com/harry-potter-tour-london

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  • Hi, welcome to the site. This answer would be great if it could be confirmed by an official source. As it stands though, it can only be taken as hearsay.
    – LogicDictates
    Sep 12, 2022 at 0:46

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