“Fantastic Beasts” Series Is 'Taking a Pause' After “Secrets of Dumbledore” : 'It's All Just Parked'

"I'm sure at some point Newt may well be back," director David Yates teased

There are no plans for more Fantastic Beasts movies at the moment, according to director David Yates.

On the Inside Total Film podcast, the director promoted his new movie Pain Hustlers, starring Emily Blunt and Chris Evans, and also fielded a question about the future of his Harry Potter prequel franchise.

"You know what we're doing with Beasts for the minute? It’s all just parked," he said, later adding, "I'm sure at some point Newt may well be back. Who can tell? We haven't got any in-depth conversations at the moment."

Eddie Redmayne starred as Newt Scamander in three of the movies: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016), Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (2022).

Johnny Depp played the villain Grindelwald, though he was recast with Mads Mikkelsen for the third entry. Jude Law portrayed a young Albus Dumbledore, and the films' cast also included Zoë Kravitz Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Callum Turner and Colin Farrell.

Related: Mads Mikkelsen Suggests Johnny Depp 'Might' Return to 'Fantastic Beasts' Role: 'I'm a Big Fan'

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Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplays for the films. Back in 2016, Rowling said she intended for the prequel franchise to encompass five movies: "I’ve now done the plotting properly so we’re pretty sure it’s going to be five movies," she said at the time.

Yates, however, said on the Inside Total Film podcast that he wasn't aware of the five-film intentions when he signed up.

"The idea that there were gonna be five films was a total surprise to most of us, because Jo just mentioned it spontaneously at a press screening," he recalled. "... We'd all signed up for FB1 very enthusiastically, and Jo, bless her ... said, 'Oh, by the way, there's five of them.' We all looked at each other, because no one had told us there were gonna be five. We sort of committed to this one, so that was the first we'd heard of it."

The director said he's "so proud" of the third film, and "when it went out into the world, we just needed to sort of stop and pause and take it easy."

"In terms of our cycle of production, we all came out of the third one, it was a wonderful experience to make that movie. But we're just all taking a pause," he said, adding that he hasn't spoken to Rowling, producer David Heyman or Warner Bros. about more movies.

"We're just taking a pause, and it's quite nice because it allows me to do stuff like this [Pain Hustlers] and other things I've got lined up that I'm excited about," said Yates.

Redmayne told NME in January that he didn't know of any plans for a fourth installment: "I mean, at the moment, there’s nothing that I’m aware of. So, as I’m aware, it’s not something that’s on the cards."

Though Fantastic Beasts may be on hold for now, a Harry Potter remake in the form of a television series is currently in the works, it was announced in April.

Pain Hustlers is on Netflix Friday.

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