The next big screen take on the Wizarding World created by JK Rowling, Warner Bros’ David Yates-directed Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, is due out on November 18 this year. The studio has now announced that the second film in the series about Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) is in the works with a November 16, 2018 release date set. Rowling, who made her screenwriting debut on the upcoming first Fantastic Beasts, will pen the next film and Yates is also returning. Further reuniting are producers David Heyman, Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Neil Blair, Rick Senat and Danny Cohen are exec producers.
Fantastic Beasts focuses on Redmayne’s preeminent “magizoologist” Newt Scamander, who stops in New York following his travels to find and document magical creatures. The second movie will move deeper into an increasingly dark time for the Wizarding World, where Newt and other heroes have to decide on their allegiances.
Harry Potter mania is currently at a fever pitch following glowing reviews out of London for the just-opened two-part stage play, Harry Potter And The Cursed Child. The script of the play, which was published this weekend, has already seen unprecedented sales for a script book.
Fantastic Beasts was originally announced as a planned film series back in 2013 based on the Hogwarts textbook that appears on a reading list in the first Harry Potter tome, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone. Scamander is the book’s fictitious author. The upcoming Fantastic Beasts is not a sequel or a prequel to the Potter adventures, but kicks off 70 years before Harry’s story starts. The series will incorporate magical creatures and characters from the Potter mythology.
Yates, who directed the final four Potter movies, and Redmayne recently attended Comic-Con — the latter leading the audience in a mass Luminos Maxima spell — where they unveiled the latest trailer.
Today’s announcement was made by Warner’s President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, Greg Silverman; and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and Distribution. The studio has enjoyed a longterm, lucrative partnership with Rowling on the Potter franchise whose eight films grossed over $7.7B at the worldwide box office. [Source]
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