Good news for all the Harry Potter fans out there. J.K. Rowling’s prequel to the Harry Potter series, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, is releasing on Nov. 18, 2016.
The spin-off of the HP series stars Eddie Redmayne, Dan Fogler, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Carmen Ejogo, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Ron Perlman and Jon Voight.
What’s this movie about?
The movie has a very promising trailer unraveling the magical world created by the Potter series. It starts with an operatic, Potter-style montage of newspaper headlines, highlighting Grindelwald’s attacks in Europe and the rising threat to North America’s magical population from Samantha’s grim. But with the arrival of Redmayne’s charming character as a “magizoologist” in New York, things take a different turn. Suffice to say it’s not long before the beasts are starting to escape. Platypus creatures like Niffler, with a love for shiny things, is the first to venture out of Newt’s briefcase.
Unaware of the rising tensions, Newt Scamander arrives in the city nearing the end of a global excursion to search and rescue these magical creatures. But potential disaster strikes when unsuspecting Muggle Jacob inadvertently lets some of Newt’s beasts out in a city already on edge—a serious violation of the Statute of Secrecy that erstwhile Auror Tina Goldstein jumps on, to grab the only chance to regain her post. However, things take an abrupt turn when Percival Graves, the enigmatic Director of Magical Security at MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), casts his hunch on both Newt and Tina.
Newt and Tina, together with Tina’s sister, Queenie, and their new muggle friend, Jacob, are on a quest to recover Newt’s missing beasts before they come to harm. But the stakes are greater than these four—now considered as branded fugitives—ever imagined, as their mission puts them on a parallel course with dark forces that could push the Wizarding and Muggle worlds to the brink of war.
Rowling’s attention to detail in promoting Fantastic Beasts’ release has set new standards for Hollywood’s usual promotion skills. Her Pottermore site is filled with original articles on the North American wizarding world, its native creatures, peculiar witchy culture and history of difference between the muggle and magical populations.
Also…
Rowling revealed the series will now stretch to at least five movies. Potter managed to go live up to seven books, let’s hope this sets the same magic.
The franchise is also due to see the return of a young Albus Dumbledore, and there will be a prestige role in the films for his greatest rival and one-time friend, Gellert Grindelwald.
All indications so far are that Rowling fans probably have reason to be excited about the prospect of more extravagant adventures in the rapidly expanding Potterverse. The magic might just come back.
