‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ Movie Set for Release in 2016
One of the most memorable parts of J.K. Rowling’s wildly popular world of Harry Potter is the magical creatures that stole the show, from the Hippogriff Buckbeak in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ to the Hungarian Horntail Dragon in ‘Goblet of Fire’ to the Thestrals in ‘Order of the Phoenix’.
Rowling’s spinoff short story collection Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was popular in its own right as an ancillary work to the Harry Potter Heptalogy, (that’s the word for a seven part series), and as an in universe textbook for Hogwarts students studying magical creatures. The book itself follows the studies and exploits of New Scamander as he travels the world, cataloguing all manner of wonderful and dangerous creatures.
The film will follow Scamander, 70 years before Harry Potter attends his first years at Hogwarts. No other concrete details yet about the plot, but the book is loaded with encounters that could make for some exciting scenes. There wouldn’t be many recognizable characters from the original movie that we could reasonably expect to see in ‘Fantastic Beasts’, especially given what Scamander would likely be doing. But it is in Warner Brother’s interests to include as many connections to the main Harry Potter Movies as possible to draw on fan good will.
With J.K. Rowling Herself penning the screen play, we could certainly expect the movie to maintain the spirit of the original book and the world of Harry Potter. We’ll have to wait and see just what fantastic beasts we’ll find when late November 2016 comes around.
