Fantastic Beasts (film series)

Fantastic Beasts is a series of films inspired by the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

It was originally believed that there would only be three films in the series. On 14 October 2016, J. K. Rowling announced that she intended there to be five films in the series.^[6][7][8] However, following the poor box office performance and controversy of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (the third film) in 2022, David Yates confirmed that Warner Bros. had "shelved" the series on 11 September 2023.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Titles[]

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - released on 18 November 2016 with the screenplay released the following day.^[3]
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - released on 16 November 2018 and the screenplay released the following day.^[4]
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - released on 15 April 2022^[5] and the screenplay released on 19 July 2022.

It is unlikely that a Fantastic Beasts 4 and Fantastic Beasts 5 film^[7][8] are still going ahead so their potential titles are unknown.^[13] According to Eddie Redmayne, who said this information came from director David Yates and producer David Heyman, the titles of each film in the series would begin with "Fantastic Beasts and …".^[14] This seems to no longer be the case beginning with the second film and third film, which both uses a colon instead.

Synopsis[]

The plot of the first film revolves around Newton Scamander, or commonly known as Newt, a Magizoologist who arrives in New York in December of 1926, to stay for a brief time following a journey around the world to research creatures for his book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Newt owns a magically-expanded suitcase containing many creatures which No-Maj Jacob Kowalski inadvertently opens. When some of the creatures escape, the situation threatens the secrecy of the Wizarding world and the relationship between the magical and non magical societies in America, which is already in danger due to the New Salem Philanthropic Society. Newt battles to find the creatures with the help of Jacob, Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein, and Queenie Goldstein before it's too late, with Percival Graves on his tail. The film take place over the course of two days.^[15]

The second film is set in Paris in the summer of 1927.^[16] It begins to centre around Gellert Grindelwald, who made a brief appearance in the first film and was considered the darkest Wizard of his time. It also features the return of Albus Dumbledore.^[7] Leta Lestrange who is described as complicated, damaged and confused is also featured. The film ends with a major victory for Grindelwald.^[17]

The third film is set in China, Great Britain, Bhutan and Germany and lastly the United States of America in the winter of 1932. Albus Dumbledore, knowing his past lover Gellert Grindelwald was gaining control over much of European's witches and wizards and unable to face Gellert himself due to their blood pact, enquires Newton Scamander to create a close group of fellow witches and wizards, those being Eulalie Hicks, Bunty Broadacre, Theseus Scamander, Jacob Kowalski, and Yusuf Kama to fight Gellert Grindelwald's acolytes. By the end of the story, Vicência Santos becomes Supreme Mugwump after re-consideration by the Qilin choosing Albus first. Gellert gets away, Apparating off of the Eyrie. Returning to America, Porpentina Goldstein returns from work at the Magical Congress of the United States of America to attend the wedding of Jacob Kowalski and Queenie Goldstein at his bakery and Albus Dumbledore ponders while walking through Rivington Street.^[18]

The story of the films was scheduled to span 19 years,^[19] setting the ending on 1945.^[20] This placed the series within the timeframe of the Global Wizarding War.

Production[]

On 12 September 2013, Warner Bros announced that they would be creating a film based upon the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They also stated that J. K. Rowling would be making her screenwriting debut.^[21] Rowling was approached by Warner Bros with the idea to be the screenwriter and she later stated that she could not give up the idea and allow another writer to "realise Newt Scamander".

On 18 October 2013, David Heyman confirmed that he would be returning as a producer, stating that it was "incredibly exciting".^[22] On 24 March 2014, The New York Times reported the adaptation of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them would be a trilogy.^[23]

On 13 May 2014, it was announced the first film would be released on 18 November 2016.^[24] On 6 October 2014, J. K. Rowling posted on Twitter the cryptic message "Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won't tolerate this nonsense."^[25] She confirmed the following day that this message was a riddle, and the solution, while not part of the script, was the first sentence of a synopsis of Newt Scamander's story.^[26] The anagram was solved later that day, with Rowling confirming the solution of "Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours."^[27]

On 15 October 2014, it was announced by Warner Bros that David Yates would be directing the films and that Steve Kloves would also be producing them. Yates later confirmed that Rowling had also written the screenplay for the second film and had gotten ideas for the third. Heyman went on to confirm that Yates and Kloves had both worked with Rowling on the screenplay.^[28]

On 4 June 2015, Warner Bros confirmed that Eddie Redmayne would be portraying Newt Scamander in the series.^[29] The rest of the cast were announced over the next few months, including Katherine Waterston as Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein^[30] and Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein.^[31] Dan Fogler was announced to portray Jacob Kowalski,^[32] Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone and Colin Farrell as Percival Graves. On 17 August 2015, principal photography began at Warner Bros Studios, Leavesden.^[33] On 4 November 2015, Entertainment Weekly released the first official publicity shots of the film. They included pictures of the production and filming at several sets with characters Newt, Tina, and Queenie.^[34]

On 15 December 2015, the announcement trailer and teaser poster were revealed for the first film.^[35][36] On 7 April 2016, it was officially announced that James Newton Howard had composed the score.^[37] On 10 April 2016, a teaser trailer was released for the first film.^[38]

On 19 April 2016, it was announced a batch of new characters had been created for the film. Rowling had also creatively given input on each character and creature.^[39] On 26 April 2016, it was announced that the script of the first film would be released in book form on 19 November 2016, one day after the film is released.^[3] On 26 April 2016, it was also announced on Pottermore that the screenplay of the first film would be published in book form.^[40]

In preparation for the film series, Rowling began placing new original writings on Pottermore detailing the History of Magic in North America. Beginning in the 1600s with the Salem Witch Trials, she delved into the next few centuries ending in 1920s America which is when the films are set. She also later revealed the American Wizarding school, Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry followed by a new Sorting quiz for the school.^[41]

On 3 August 2016, it was announced that the second film would be released on 16 November 2018^[4] followed by the third film on 20 November 2020.^[42] On 28 September 2016, the final trailer for the first film was released.^[43] On 7 October 2016, they also debuted the first track for the first film along with the titles of the rest of the soundtrack.^[44]

On 13 October 2016, J. K. Rowling announced at a special fan screening of the first film in London that there would actually be five films in the series.^[45][46] Rowling stated she always knew there was going to be more than one film and that they "said a trilogy as a kind of placeholder". However, when she plotted out the story she had created, she realised they would need five films to tell it in.^[7] David Yates also stated that the second film would be very different from the first film.^[7]

On 18 November 2016 the first film, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them premiered. On 12 April 2017, it was announced that British actor Jude Law would play Young Albus Dumbledore in the second film, the young Hogwarts Transfiguration Professor who shares a complicated history with the series antagonist Gellert Grindelwald, played by Johnny Depp.^[47]

On 28 May 2017, J. K. Rowling announced on Twitter that the second film's screenplay was finished.^[48]

After release of the second film in 2018, J. K. Rowling announced in November that she finished the third films screenplay. Three months later, a rewrite of the script was in the works with Steve Kloves, known screenwriter for the Potter films and producer on the Beasts films was co-writing with Rowling. Controversy and rumours were spread due to poor reception of Rowling's ability to script write after Crimes of Grindelwald's errors, until November 2019, when the script was thought to be finalised and production continued.^[49]

In 2020, production of the third film was halted due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, giving Rowling and Kloves additional time to finish the script.^[49] 11 days before the 26th May, shooting restrictions were limited, but Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore did not film. In September 2020, filming commenced. On 6 November 2020, Johnny Depp announced that he was asked by Warner Bros. to resign following a libel lawsuit. He decided to step down from the role of Gellert Grindelwald, and the studio will recast the role for the third film.^[50] Filming commenced on 20 September 2020 and on 25 November 2020 it was announced that Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen would be playing as Gellert Grindelwald in the rest of the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

Composer James Newton Howard said in a interview with Deadline that Fantastic Beasts 3 has wrapped filming in February 2021 and he would be starting the scoring process. Newton said "that if he gets some movie soon, that will take me through a good part of the year".^[51] Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was confirmed and set to be released on 15 April 2022. On 10 December 2021, the first teaser trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore released. Three days later, on 13 December, the full official trailer for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was released.

Director David Yates in an interview on 26 October 2023 mentioned that, Warner Bros. was unclear of J.K Rowling's intent of the series until a fan screening^[45] of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on 13 October 2016 that J.K. Rowling had already plotted and written the story to be a five film series. Mentioning, "the idea that there were going to be five films was a surprise to most of us" and that the studio only commited to the first film and it likely being only a trilogy.

Future plans[]

David Yates was filming a small Sony Project, so there was to be a break in between the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore and a Fantastic Beasts 4.^[52] In February 2022, David Heyman stated that work on a script for Fantastic Beasts 4 still hadn't started.^[53] Several outlets reported that due to the poor reception of The Crimes of Grindelwald, Warner Bros. were unlikely to greenlight another two films if the reception of The Secrets of Dumbledore also had a poor box office result. They also gave several other contributing reasons including controversies behind-the-scenes, creative shortfalls and faltering box office returns.^[13]

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore had a better critical reception. However, it set the record for the worst opening weekend of the Harry Potter franchise, with ticket performance dropping substantially during its second weekend in theatres.^[54] In November 2022, it was reported that Warner Bros. had no Wizarding World films in active development and was not in "active discussions" with Rowling.^[55] In January 2023, Eddie Redmayne stated he was not aware of any plans for a fourth film in the franchise.^[56]

Fantastic Beasts 4 and Fantastic Beasts 5 would have followed the events of The Secrets of Dumbledore, however as of 12 November 2024, their creations are still not confirmed to have been moving forward. If the films were made, parts of them would have possibly been filmed in countries where Spanish or Portuguese, and Italian is the respective official language, as J. K. Rowling tweeted this on 13 October 2016: 5. Five. Cinq. Fünf. Cinco. Cinque.^[57] The fifth film would have at least partially taken place in 1945,^[58] meaning it would have shown the end of the Global Wizarding War and featured the legendary duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.^[59]

During the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, David Yates briefly spoke about the future of the franchise being shelved for now, saying "Let's just park it and be done for a while. Never say never, I will say. But just for a while, I, just wanna, explore many other things."^[9] With another media outlet, on 23 October David Yates spoke on his time spent in the Wizarding World mentioning that he, "spent a long time at that school, in those corridors and in those classrooms" and "to go back and do another year or two, for me, I feel I've left it."^[60]

Despite these claims, three days later on 26 October Yates mentioned that he alongside J. K. Rowling, David Heyman and Warner Bros. have not spoken since the release of the third film. Though, he does speak of a possibility of Warner Bros. "eventually" getting around to finishing the series.^[61]

In an interview with comicbook.com, Eddie Redmayne stated that he believed that fans had seen the last of Newton Scamander, and that it would depend on Warner Bros. and J. K. Rowling, but as far he knew, that was it.^[62][63]

Recurring cast[]

• Eddie Redmayne as Newton "Newt" Scamander
• Katherine Waterston as Porpentina "Tina" Goldstein
• Dan Fogler as Jacob Kowalski
• Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein
• Ezra Miller as Credence Barebone
• Carmen Ejogo as Seraphina Picquery
• Kevin Guthrie as Abernathy
• Zoë Kravitz as Leta Lestrange
• Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald)
• Mads Mikkelsen as Gellert Grindelwald (in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore)
• Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore
• Callum Turner as Theseus Scamander
• William Nadylam as Yusuf Kama
• Jessica Williams as Eulalie Hicks

Behind the scenes[]

• On 13 October 2016, J. K. Rowling hinted at the locations of each film when she replied to fan and answered back saying "five" in five different languages. The languages appeared to signify which country each film would be set in:
  • Five = USA (New York)
  • Cinq = France (Paris)
  • Funf = Germany (Berlin and Nurmengard Castle, Austria)
  • Cinco = Brazil (was also briefly seen in magical screens during the walk of the Qilin)
  • Cinque = Italy
  • The series explored the locations of New York, USA, Paris, France, and Berlin, Germany in the series. Parque Lage and Christ the Redeemer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are briefly seen in Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
  • Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore were briefly set in Austria during the Nurmengard scenes.
  • Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was briefly set in Kweilin, Kwangsi province, Republic of China (modernly known as Guilin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China), according to Eddie Redmayne.
  • Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was also set in Bhutan.
• The first two films introduced a new sub-species of wizard:
  • Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Obscurial
  • Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - Maledictus
• Jude Law revealed in an interview that Johnny Depp had "done a day's filming" for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, "on his own", before being asked to resign from the role of Gellert Grindelwald.^[64]

External links[]

• Fantastic Beasts official website

Notes and references[]