Harry Potter spin-off ‘Fantastic Beasts’ set for fall 2016 release
“Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. are looking to re-create their old magic with “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” It’s the first installment of a planned “Potter” spin-off trilogy, and the movie now has a release date: Nov. 18, 2016.
Rowling will make her screenwriting debut on the film, adapting (and presumably expanding) her own 42-page fictional Hogwarts textbook originally published in 2001 that chronicles the adventures of “magizoologist” Newt Scamander, the book’s ostensible author.
When the film project was first announced last September, Rowling said “Fantastic Beasts” would be “neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.”
Scamander’s adventures will begin in New York 70 years before the events of the first “Harry Potter” novel.
In March, Warner Bros. revealed that “Fantastic Beasts” will form the basis of three films, not just one, with all three screenplays being penned by Rowling.
No director, cast members or producers have yet been named.
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