We may not be getting any straight-upHarry Pottermovies anytime soon, but Warner Bros. is prepared to keep us in the wizarding world for quite some time. It was announced today that theFantastic Beastsspinoff series will consist of five movies. It is very clear that Warner Bros. has a lot of confidence in the franchise and that they want to capitalize on theHarry Potterassociation as much as possible.
During a fan event for the upcomingFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,Harry PottercreatorJ. K. Rowlingannounced that there are plans for a total of five movies in the series. This was very quickly confirmed byFantastic Beasts’Twitteraccount. Here is whatJ. K. Rowlinghad to say about it.
“I’m pretty sure that there are going to be five movies, now that I’ve been able to properly plot them out. We always knew that there would be more than one.”
A couple of months ago, Warner Bros. officially announced thatFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2would be coming out in November of 2018, long before the first movie’s release.David Yates, who directed the last fourHarry Potter moviesas well asFantastic Beast and Where to Find Themwill be returning to direct the sequel. Initially, it was thought that the series would be a trilogy, but it seems thatJ. K. Rowlingwas able to come up with a bit more of a sprawling and ambitious story that justifies a couple more movies.
Attendees at the globalFantastic Beastsfan event were not only treated to the announcement fromJ. K. Rowling, but they also go to see the first ten minutes ofFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Early buzz on the movie has been highly positive, and word from those in attendance has been exceedingly positive as well.J. K. Rowlingis making her screenwriting debut withFantastic Beastsand she is also writing the script for the sequel. Given her commitment to thewizarding worldshe has created, it isn’t hard to imagine she will stay on to write the scripts for all of the movies, assuming things continue to go well.
Recently, a play that continues the mainHarry Potterstoryline,Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, opened in London. Fans (and likely Warner Bros.) were hoping that perhaps the play would get a movie adaptation, butJ. K. Rowlinghas made it very clear that won’t be the case. So, the news thatFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themwill be a massive, five-movie franchise is likely a pretty solid consolation prize.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themtakes place in New York in 1926 and follows Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he tries to round up a bunch of magical creatures who manage to get loose in the city. In addition to Oscar winnerEddie Redmayne, the cast also includesKatherine Waterston,Dan Fogler,Alison Sudol,Ezra Miller,Samantha Morton,Jon Voight,Ron Perlman,Carmen Ejogo,Jenn Murray,Faith Wood-BlagroveandColin Farrell.Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themopens in theaters on November 18.
