Big news today from the world of Harry Potter, news that is sure to have fans of The Boy Who Lived and his friends more than a little enthused. Warner Brothers Entertainment has announced “an expanded creative partnership” with J.K Rowling, and at the center of said partnership is a new film series based on the textbook “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
Says Rowling of the first film in the planned series “‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.” Rowling will also be writing the screenplay for the film, her first. “Fantastic Beasts” will be about the alleged author of the book, Newt Scamander, and will begin seventy years before the first events in the Harry Potter Books.
While the textbook in question was discussed in the first Harry Potter novel, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” it was merely a fictional concoction at the time. Later, in 2001, Rowling actually wrote the book itself with the proceeds of it, and “Quidditch Through the Ages,” going to charity.
The “Fantastic Beasts” series will also have video games and various other products involved. No mention at this time has been made of how many films Warner Bros. would like to see for the series nor of any potential release date.