‘Fantastic Beasts’ Is The Franchise That Lived: J.K. Rowling Announces Five Movies
Well, there's a good reason they call him The Boy Who Lived: Like a Dementor intent on sucking every last ounce of soul from your body, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter just won't die.
A sequel to J.K. Rowling's forthcoming spin-off film (for which she is a screenwriter), Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, had already been confirmed by Warner Bros., but during a promotional fan Q&A event at London's Leicester Square on Wednesday, October 13, the author announced that the story will actually unfold over five films—no more, no less.
"We always knew it was going to be more than one movie, and we said a trilogy as a place holder," Rowling revealed according to the BBC, adding, "But I've done the plotting properly and I'm pretty sure it's going to be five movies."
Later, Rowling corroborated the news on Twitter while responding to fans, telling one who wondered if five films was simply overkill, "When you realise [sic] what story we're really telling, you'll understand that it can't possibility fit in one movie!"
Eddie Redmayne, who also attended the event, told fans that Rowling "has the most extraordinary imagination of our generation and she has created something entirely different."
"That world is spilling out of her head in a unique way," the actor added.
Meanwhile, for fans clamoring for a cameo from one of Harry Potter's characters, director David Yates revealed that at least one from the original series will make an appearance.
"There is a mention of some characters that we know and love from previous movies, but we only talk about them fleetingly," Yates told Reuters. "In the next movie, part two, we'll get to meet one of them in a significant way. He's much younger than he used to be, but he'll be coming back."
Set in New York City 70 years before the events of Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts tells the tale of animal-obsessed Magizoologist Newt Scamander, played by Redmayne, who travels to New York City and accidentally unleashes chaos when some of his enchanted critters escape from his briefcase.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters November 18.
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