You’d have to be living in a cave not to know about Harry Potter and the highly successful novel-turned-film series by J.K. Rowling. The films won J.K. Rowling an even larger army of fans – not to mention the millions they made at the box office – growing popular thanks to their endless magic and adventure and capitalising on the success of the captivating books. The film series ended up taking nearly £5 billion, making Harry Potter the highest-grossing movie franchise ever made.
Even though it’s been seven years since the last Potter book was released, fans have found myriad ways to keep up with their favourite wizard; for those who want to truly immerse themselves, the film studio in Britain has even re-opened to the public for tours. Of the films themselves, the final entry in the series was released in 2011, or so we thought.
The Potter spin-off
Just when it looked like the wizard hat had been hung up for good, it has been announced that another three Harry Potter films are set to hit the big screen, much to the delighted of fans everywhere. Warner Bros. have confirmed that the trilogy will be devised from the Harry Potter spin-off book, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Written by Rowling in 2001, Fantastic Beasts was a sample textbook from the series’ wizarding school, all about the wondrous magical creatures which can be found in the world of Harry Potter. Rowling chose not to have her name on the front of this book; instead, it went under the name of Newt Scamander, a magizoologist (magical creatures expert) in the books. It will, however, be the first screenwriting role for Rowling, and may open the door to many others in the future.
What to expect
There is very little currently known about the actual plot of the upcoming films. The film will supposedly follow Newt Scamander around as he goes on the search for these magical creatures, with plenty of adventures en route. It’s an interesting and fun idea, one on which she already has a lot of ideas and inspiration, as Rowling once said she would only return to the world of Potter if it was on a project she felt truly invested in. We are yet to find out who the stars of the new film trilogy will be, although names like David Tennant have been heard on the rumour mill.
The plan to take Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them from page to the big screen is another project from Warner Bros., which given the success of the Harry Potter films, it’s understandable to see why. Fantastic Beasts is designed to be a separate entity from the other Potter movies and will act as a prequel to his adventures. One thing we do know is that the movie will (at least in part) be set in New York, with Rowling released a cryptic first line from the script via her Twitter account: “Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours.”
The release date of the first film is scheduled for 18th November 2016, with the other two following in 2018 and 2020. The door has also been left opened for further adventures too, probably depending on the new trilogy’s success at the box office. We could see the trend in keeping with many other movies recently released, including Mockingjay, part of the Hunger Games trilogy, which is one book split into two films. It is not a first for the Harry Potter saga either, as the final book was split into two films and released in 2010 and 2011. Exciting times lie ahead for J.K. Rowling and the creators of this new Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them trilogy, and with the films looking likely to be another popular franchise, the sky is the limit.
Written in conjunction with Warner Bros. Images via Creative Commons: Book spines, J.K. Rowling, Buckbeak model
