WATCH: ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ Announcement Trailer
Jeff had his chance to nerd out over a movie trailer, now it's my turn. The announcement trailer for J.K. Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' is here.
The movie is set in the 1920s, about 70 years before we meet Harry Potter for the first time. It's about Newt Scamander, the fictional author whose book of the same title appears as a required text for Hogwarts students in the first novel of the Harry Potter series. Scamander travels to New York City with a briefcase full of magical creatures — some of which have escaped. This is the first look into the Wizarding World in the U.S. and the movie will be part of a trilogy.
When it was announced that J.K. Rowling would revisit the fantastical Wizarding World she created with the Harry Potter series, I was a bit skeptical. Historically, prequels, sequels, and any other variation on an original rarely turn out well. But then I heard the idea behind 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' and I was sold. If anyone can do this justice, it's the original queen of Wizarding, J.K. Rowling.
Rowling says she signed on to write the screenplay because she couldn’t imagine some other author doing it. “It all started when Warner Bros came to me with the suggestion of turning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of Fantastic Beasts, realized by another writer was difficult.”
Rowling also says that this isn't a prequel but rather another glimpse into the Wizarding World, in a different time, in a different place. Will there be more connections to our (my) favorite trio Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger? I guess I'll have to wait and see the movie in November 2016.