Emily Gauthier
Staff Writer
Harry Potter fans rejoiced when J.K. Rowling announced on Sept. 12 that she will debut as a screenwriter for a movie that is set in the same world of wizards as the Harry Potter franchise.
The film will be produced by Warner Bros., the same company that worked on all of the Harry Potter movies.
The movie, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” will be based on Newt Scamander, a character mentioned in the Harry Potter series.
Scamander was the author of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” a textbook required for Hogwarts students.
Little is known about this character other than that he at one time attended Hogwarts and wrote his textbook from information he acquired during his travels.
It is also known that Scamander is much beloved by Rowling.
“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,” Rowling said on her website.
The author-turned-screenwriter is keeping the plot and characters a secret for the time being.
The only information released thus far is that the movie, with the same title as the fictitious textbook, will be set in New York City, 70 years prior to the story of The Boy Who Lived.
While not officially signed to work yet, it is speculated that David Heyman, the producer of all eight Harry Potter films, will be working on this project as well.
Heyman expressed excitement about the new project in an interview on MovieFone.com.
“I can’t really talk about it yet,” Heyman said, “All I can say is that it’s great.”
Potter fans are rejoicing at the prospect of returning to the fictional world of wizards and witches.
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is highly anticipated and is sure to be another huge money-maker for Warner Bros. Studios.
