David Heyman talks “Fantastic Beasts” with THR

Jan 23, 2016

Posted by: Catherine

Fantastic Beasts, Fantastic Beasts Movie, Heyman, Heyman Interviews, News

David Heyman, who will be receiving the Producers Guild Awards’ David O. Selznick Achievement Award later this month (reported first on TLC by Katie), sat down for an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Two of the biggest movie projects Heyman has produced is the Harry Potter series and the forthcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series, that will be an extension of the Harry Potter world. The Hollywood Reporter had the honor of interview David Heyman about his achievements, and talk a little (oh, but only a little) of Fantastic Beasts. THR reported:

 

Why did you decide to return to the world of Harry Potter?

It was exciting to move on and to embrace new challenges with Gravity and Paddington, but when it finished, there was a not-insignificant sadness because [the Potter films] had been such a big part of my life. Jo Rowling created such an incredibly rich and deeply conceived world. What you read in the books is in some ways just the surface of this world. I’d ask her about the [character Sirius Black’s] family tree because we had to paint it on the wall [for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix], and the book only had two names, and half an hour later I’d receive a family tree going back six generations with 100 people. I’m sure Newt Scamander and his story have been in her mind for many years. We were sitting around wondering what else we could do in this world, and [producer] Lionel Wigram, who is the person I first brought the first [Potter] book to, thought about maybe doing a documentary about Newt. That idea was floated to Jo, and she responded to doing a film about [that character].

Is Beasts designed as a franchise?

We’ve talked about making a couple, but with all these things — and this may be a failing of mine — I don’t look at them as franchises; I look at them as films. We want to make each film as good as we can because if you don’t, you won’t have a second film or a third.

What’s the biggest difference between Fantastic Beasts and the Harry Potter films?

Not having to work children’s hours. (Laughs.) And it’s set in 1920s New York as opposed to the U.K. in the ’90s.

 

Heyman went onto discuss the importance of being a “voracioius reader,” projects he has in development that he hopes to continue, the biggest challenge producers currently face in the film industry and more. The full article can be read here.





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.