This morning, Harry Potter fans around the world woke up to the announcement the trailer for Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling’s screenplay, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” had dropped. Naturally, pandemonium ensued.
Rowling announced the Harry Potter spin-off in October 2014 with an anagram on Twitter. It took fans 24 hours to solve the clue, “Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours,” the first sentence of a synopsis of the movie’s plot. It caused a massive social media fallout that was only heightened by the second announcement that J.K. Rowling would write the screenplay herself. The long-awaited announcement trailer once again sent fans into a frenzy, as they finally get a hint of the yet unknown plot.
“‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world,” Rowling was quick to add. It is based on a textbook from the Harry Potter Series, which Rowling published in 2001. The book “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is a glossary of magical creatures, and the screenplay expands on the life of the author, ‘magizoologist’ Newt Scamander, and the process by which he discovers the creatures. The story takes place in New York in 1920, 70 years before the Harry Potter series begins, and stars Eddie Redmayne as Scamander. The film’s producer, David Heyman, also produced the entire Harry Potter series, continuing his involvement in the franchise.
The cinematic potential of the screenplay is immense, and the announcement trailer hints at an exceptionally visually dynamic film. According to the few details given away by the trailer, while Scamander is in New York a number of his magical creatures escape. The film is expected to feature high action scenes, with a glimpse of Scamander’s magical prowess also shown in the trailer. Scamander stays only briefly in New York before embarking on an epic journey.
The anticipation for this installment of the Harry Potter Wizarding World series is considerably different to that for the original 8 movies. Fans rest assured knowing that Rowling herself wrote the screenplay, and, not being based off a book, the whole world must wait to know the story.
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” comes out on November 18th, 2016.
