J.K. Rowling to pen new 'Harry Potter' spinoff film series
J.K. Rowling, creator and author of the popular Harry Potter book series, has confirmed that she will make her screenwriting debut to helm a new Potter-spinoff film series, starting with Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them.
While Rowling did not script any of the previous Potter films, they were all based on her pre-existing books. Fantastic Beasts will instead be an original film, based on a fictitious Hogwarts textbook of the same name, referenced within the Potter series, and will center around its fictitious author, Newt Scamander. Rowling agreed to write the film upon being approached by Warner Bros. with the idea, and determining that seeing the character realized by another author would be difficult.
Newt Scamander (via Harry Potter Wiki)
Set in New York City, 70 years before the events of Harry Potter, Rowling describes Fantastic Beasts as “neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.”
Fantastic Beasts is meant to kick off a new series of films in Rowling's Harry Potter universe. No timeframe for the film's release has been announced but, since it is in the very early stages of production, it is likely still several years away.
The main Harry Potter film series, consisting of eight films based on seven books, concluded in 2011.
Potter fans, are you excited to see a spinoff? Are you glad that J.K. Rowling is writing the screenplay? Do you think Newt Scamander will make as good a main character as Harry? Let us know in the comments!
