The expansion of the Harry Potter cinematic universe will continue, as Warner Bros. has announced that a sequel to this year’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is already in the works, ahead of its November release. Fantastic Beasts is, of course, based on the 2001 J.K. Rowling book of the same name, which is purported as a textbook written by magizoologist named Newt Scamander, describing the many creatures who occupy the magic-filled world of Harry Potter.
According to the studio’s press release, the sequel is set for a November 16th, 2018 release, almost exactly two years after the first in the series will hit theaters. Director of Fantastic Beasts and the four latter films in the Harry Potter series (Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows Part 1 and 2), David Yates, will be returning to helm the next installment, while Rowling, who made her screenwriting debut with Fantastic Beasts, has already turned in the script for the sequel. The second entry will supposedly “move deeper into an increasingly dark time for the wizarding world, where Newt Scamander and the story’s other heroes have to decide on their allegiances.”
Along with Rowling, David Heyman, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram are back on board to produce Fantastic Beasts 2.
The Fantastic Beasts series was always planned as a trilogy, so the announcement of a sequel shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. In fact, Variety even reported that the third entry in the series is currently expected to hit theaters in November of 2020.
It’s a good time for Harry Potter fans, considering that Rowling just released the script for her new stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and Universal’s “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” theme parks are expanding, opening up around the world and as popular as ever.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” stars Academy Award winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”), Katherine Waterston (“Steve Jobs,” “Inherent Vice”) as Tina; Tony Award winner Dan Fogler (“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”) as Jacob; Alison Sudol (“Dig,” “Transparent”) as Tina’s sister, Queenie; Ezra Miller (“Trainwreck”) as Credence; two-time Oscar nominee Samantha Morton (“In America,” “Sweet and Lowdown”) as Mary Lou; Oscar winner Jon Voight (“Coming Home,” TV’s “Ray Donovan”) as Henry Shaw, Sr.; Ron Perlman (the “Hellboy” films) as Gnarlack; Carmen Ejogo (“Selma”) as Seraphina; Jenn Murray (“Brooklyn”) as Chastity; young newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty; and Colin Farrell (“True Detective”) as Percival Graves.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set for release on November 18th.
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Originally published August 3, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.
