Even though it takes place decades before Harry Potter entered the wizarding world, fans of JK Rowling’s generation-dominating series are pretty excited for the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.Â
The movie, which is set in 1920’s New York, follows Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) as he frantically tries to rescue Big Apple residents from the monsters he accidentally unleashes upon them.
Scamander is only mentioned fleetingly in the Potter books, but there’s no doubt that seeing Rowling’s fantastical imagination on screen again is exciting for anyone that spent their childhoods daydreaming about Dark Arts, house elves and Polyjuice Potion.
Those people will also be delighted to learn that director David Yates and Warner Bros. have already announced a release date for the second instalment of the rumoured trilogy.
Rowling will again be writing the script for the movie, which Digital Spy say will release worldwide on November 16, 2018. It will be Yates’ sixth directing gig in the wider Potter-verse, as he was also at the helm for the final four films.
A Warner Bros. statement promised the second Fantastic Beasts film ‘moves deeper into an increasingly dark time for the wizarding world, where Newt and our other heroes have to decide on their allegiances’.
Fitting in nicely with 2016’s taste for nostalgia, Harry Potter has been back in pop culture chatter in a big way recently (if it ever really went away), with sales for the script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two – the stage show currently performing in London – reportedly topping over two million copies in two days.
Muggles do love their magic.
