Amazon Reveals Fantastic Beasts Pre-Order Deals!

What a week to be a Potterhead.

Although Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has only been roaring in cinemas for a few weeks, our resident Demiguises at Leaky HQ have called upon their precognitive sight to give us the latest on the DVD and Blu-ray release.

According to reports from Amazon, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment have revealed a series of exclusive deals concerning the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them DVD and Blu-ray variations!

The box art for the movie has been taken from one of the main film posters, in this case the iconic print of our Platinum Quartet trailing through the smoky streets of New York, with the mighty Woolworth building (aka MACUSA Headquarters) towering over them in the background.

The product description (which may also double up as a possible box synopsis for the movie) reads:

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” takes us to a new era of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, decades before Harry Potter and half a world away.”

“Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything,” “The Danish Girl”) stars in the central role of Magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates, who helmed the last four “Harry Potter” blockbusters.”

“There are growing dangers in the wizarding world of 1926 New York. Something mysterious is leaving a path of destruction in the streets, threatening to expose the wizarding community to the No-Majs (American for Muggles), including the Second Salemers, a fanatical faction bent on eradicating them and the powerful, dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, after wreaking havoc in Europe, has slipped away…and is now nowhere to be found. Unaware of the rising tensions, Newt Scamander arrives in the city nearing the end of a global excursion to research and rescue magical creatures, some of which are safeguarded in the magical hidden dimensions of his deceptively nondescript leather case. But potential disaster strikes when unsuspecting No-Maj Jacob Kowalski inadvertently lets some of Newt’s beasts loose in a city already on edge—a serious breach of the Statute of Secrecy that former Auror Tina Goldstein jumps on, seeing her chance to regain her post as an investigator. However, things take an ominous turn when Percival Graves, the enigmatic Director of Magical Security at MACUSA (Magical Congress of the United States of America), casts his suspicions on both Newt…and Tina.”

“Now allied, Newt and Tina, together with Tina’s sister, Queenie, and their new No-Maj friend, Jacob, form a band of unlikely heroes, who must recover Newt’s missing beasts before they come to harm. But the stakes are higher than these four outsiders—now branded fugitives—ever imagined, as their mission puts them on a collision course with dark forces that could push the wizarding and No-Maj worlds to the brink of war.”

The cheapest and simplest deals for Fantastic Beasts come with the generic DVD and Blu-ray editions. The DVD is priced at $17.99 in the U.S. and £9.99 in the U.K., while the Blu-ray soars in at $24.99 in the U.S. and £14.99 in the U.K. The Blu-ray also comes with an additional DVD copy of the film, as well an Ultraviolet HD copy that customers can download onto any mobile device free of charge. To redeem their Ultraviolet copy, the one need only visit the Ultraviolet site and type in the code that comes inside the Blu-Ray box.

In addition to the standard releases, Warner Bros. have also commissioned a 3D Blu-ray edition, which is priced at $29.99 in the U.S. and £19.99 in the U.K. The 3D set comes with additional Blu-ray, DVD and Ultraviolet HD copy of the film. However, remember that in order to use the 3D Blu-Ray, you must be in possession of a 3D Blu-Ray player. There are some things that not even magic can rectify!

In a groundbreaking move, Warner Bros. have also decided to commission an all-new 4K Ultra HD Blu-Ray edition of the film, priced at $29.99 in the U.S. and £24.99 in the U.K. 4K Ultra HD is classed as the next generation of Blu-Ray technology, offering movie buffs the very best movie experience in terms of audio and visual quality. The technology has been around in cinemas and on Television since 2012, although it is only now in 2016 that we are seeing 4K films go on sale, with Fantastic Beasts becoming one of the pioneers!

Please do note though that the 4K edition will still only contain the 2D format of the film overall, as it does not include a 3D Blu-Ray disc in the box, but rather an additional 2D Blu-Ray copy and an Ultraviolet HD copy.
If electronic copies are more your thing, then the Amazon video downloadable version of the film may be more to your taste. Priced at $19.99 in the U.S. and £13.99 in the U.K., the video acts like the Ultraviolet HD copy, in the sense that the movie will download straight to your device.

As if that wasn’t enough for fans, Warner Bros. have released one last, enticing package that will turn even the laziest of Nifflers’ heads. Speaking of Nifflers, that is exactly what the package entails. Those who opt to buy the Amazon-Exclusive Deluxe Combo pack (which consists of a 2D Blu-ray, a DVD, and an Ultraviolet HD copy of the film) will be treated with an exclusive, 3D Niffler figurine with their purchase. The figurine depicts Newt Scamander’s light-fingered friend sitting on a plinth, rummaging through a purse it steals from a No-Maj in the Steen National Bank.

The combo pack is priced at $99.99 in the U.S., with no native deal available in the U.K. as of this moment. However, the U.S. branch of Amazon does in fact ship the item to the United Kingdom, meaning that British Potterheads can still grab themselves a Niffler!

All versions of the movie will also come with an additional Bonus disc or download (for the Amazon Video format). The disc will be packed full to capacity with interviews and behind-the-scenes featurettes of the movie. However, the the most highly-awaited features on the bonus disc is arguably the deleted scene reel, which has recently been confirmed to reveal the true fate of Credence Barebone as well as giving fans a rendition of the official Ilvermorny Song.

Although there is no official release date tied to the DVD and Blu-ray variants as of yet, the estimated date of arrival comes around March 2017.

Make sure you save some space in your undetectably-extended case for a copy!