Warner Bros. Studios announced on Sept. 12 that J.K. Rowling will be screenwriting a new wizarding world film. The film will be called “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” inspired by Harry Potter’s first-year textbook.
Though the movie might feed the appetite of crazed Potter fans, “The Boy Who Lived” and his best friends will not be making an appearance.
“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘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 said on her official Facebook page.
The new project will take place in New York, about 70 years before the Potter adventure begins. It will feature the textbook’s author Newt Scamander, a character very close to Rowling’s heart.
“I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood,” Rowling said on the Facebook page.
The film will be the first in a series. A movie release date and how many films the series will include are not available at this time.
BYU students have mixed feelings to the news. Many are excited for the new films but feel they will not reach the popularity of the original Potter films.
“I don’t think it could ever get as big as Harry Potter,” said Bekah Leavitt, a pre-nursing major from Alberta, Canada. “I’d be interested to see how they would do it. It’s an interesting idea.”
