Harry Potter fans mark your calendars, because the Fantastic Beasts are coming. The release of Rowling’s Harry Potter spinoff trilogy, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them arrives in theaters, November 18, 2016. This will be the first of three, as the franchise stands for an expansion of the wizard world created in her 2001 novel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
This is not a prequel or a sequel, but is rather an extension of the 42-page fictional adventures of a young wizard named Newt Scamander. Scamander is your average “magizoologist,” which means he studies magical creatures. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set in New York, 70 years before the first Harry Potter novel, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. We have previously covered our outlook on the film’s potential to successfully take creative risks.
This film marks Rowling’s debut as a screenwriter. Unlike the past Potter movie adaptations (written by Steve Kloves), all of the next three films will be written by Rowling. According to Hero Complex, Rowling said,
“The idea of seeing Newt Scadamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.”
Although no casting details have been revealed, we do know that Warner Brothers is producing. In just two years from now, we will be traveling to the magical land of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Rowling seems to have lots in store for us, but hang in there with Potter movie re-watches until November 18, 2016.