J.K. Rowling to pen screenplay for Movie Spin off on “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

Sep 12, 2013

Posted by: Catherine

News

Warner Brothers has announced that a movie series based off of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. J.K. Rowling will be writing the screenplay for this extension of the wizarding franchise, making this her screenwriting debut. The focus of the film series will be Newt Scamander, “author” of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. According to J.K. Rowling, these films will take place 70 years before the first Harry Potter novel. Hypable reports J.K. Rowling’s full statement:

“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ˜Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world. The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.

It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning ˜Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ˜Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.

As I considered Warners’ proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.

I particularly want to thank Kevin Tsujihara of Warner Bros. for his support in this project, which would not have happened without him. I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it.” –J.K. Rowling

Warner Brothers stated: “We are incredibly honored that Jo has chosen to partner with Warner Bros. on this exciting new exploration of the world of wizardry which has been tremendously successful across all of our businesses’ said Kevin Tsujihara, Chief Executive Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment. “She is an extraordinary writer, who ignited a reading revolution around the world, which then became an unprecedented film phenomenon. We know that audiences will be as excited as we are to see what her brilliant and boundless imagination conjures up for us.”





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.