JK Rowling Says ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Franchise Will Span 5 Movies

JK Rowling told fans attending a global event for Warner Bros’ Fantastic Beats And Where To Find Them that the upcoming movie starring Eddie Redmayne will be the first of five total movies in the series spinoff of her Harry Potter stories. That’s new news as the author originally considered the spinoff idea to be a trilogy of films.

In addition, director David Yates, who beamed into the TCL Chinese Theatre from London via satellite with Rowling and Harry Potter film series producer David Heyman, also teased that the second movie in the follow-up series will be set in another global capital city — though he wouldn’t say which one. Another tease: he said the first Fantastic Beasts will feature a cameo by a young Albus Dumbledore as well as another character from the original Harry Potter movies, Gellert Grindelwald. A dangerous wizard whose friendship and later enmity with Dumbledore plays a large role in the parent series’ backstory, Grindelwald was also tied to the final Harry Potter book’s magical Macguffins the Deathly Hallows and to the eventual fate of Lord Voldemort.

The news comes ahead of the global bow of Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them on November 18. The studio has already staked out a sequel release date for November 16, 2018.

The global event was beamed out to Hollywood, New York, London, Mexico City, Sao Paulo and Rome. Warner Bros showed the first 10 minutes of the movie as well as a featurette, and Jon Voight and Colin Farrell were in attendance in Hollywood. In London, Rowling, Yates and Heyman were joined by co-stars Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, and Dan Fogler.

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