Last year, Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling announced a new entry in the Harry Potter universe (though not a sequel or prequel) based on a tie-in from the movies known as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Back then, it was said that Rowling would pen the first screenplay, indicating multiple films in a larger series.
Now, the New York Times has revealed that the series is being planned as a three-movie affair, according to Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara. Rowling credits Tsujihara for the creation of the spin-off, saying “he made Fantastic Beasts happen, it isn’t P.R.-speak but the literal truth. We had one dinner, a follow-up telephone call, and then I got out the rough draft that I’d thought was going to be an interesting bit of memorabilia for my kids and started rewriting!”
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set 70 years before the main Harry Potter storyline, and is designed to be a companion set of films rather than a prequel to the main series. If there was to be a true prequel, it would likely follow Tom Riddle and his eventual rise (or decline) to become Lord Voldemort.
Of course, at this early in the stage, we have no idea when the film will be launched, nor have any story details been released. We know nothing of lead actors, characters, or cameos, though one could probably figure some of that out by reading the book the film is based on. Either way, we don’t expect the film to contain any of the main Harry Potter characters simply because they wouldn’t be alive in the mid-1930’s.
Expect Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them to hit theatres sometime in 2017, by our estimation.