‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ Production Postponed Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

Justin Kroll
·2 min read

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With production expected to start on Monday in the U.K., sources tell Variety that Warner Bros. has postponed the third installment of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

Like with so many productions that have already stalled due to the coronavirus pandemic, it’s unknown how long the postponement will be or whether it will have an effect on the release date.

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“Fantastic Beasts” stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Paterson, Zoe Kravitz and Dan Folger. David Yates is returning to direct.

The series is one of WB’s top franchises, with the previous two films grossing more then $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office.

A significant portion of the film is set in Brazil.

The movie is one of the last major Hollywood productions to delay its shoot. Warner Bros. announced on Friday that it would be postponing “The Batman” while it moved locations to Liverpool, but was holding out hope that they could make it work for “Fantastic Beasts,” which was using the same sound stage.

Sources also confirmed that the Will Smith pic “King Richard” has also postponed its production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film was reconfiguring its schedule because of bad weather in Los Angeles, but ultimately chose to be postponed as well.

Smith plays the father of tennis icons Serena and Venus Williams. The movie was slated to bow on Thanksgiving weekend of this year; it’s unknown if the disruption in production will affect the release date.

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