With Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them set for release on Friday November 18th, we were were given a chance to preview some never-before-seen footage of the film and listen to a Q&A with the film’s cast and crew. Here’s Eric Bay-Andersen’s report…
On 13th October at the IMAX in Leicester Square, Edith Bowman presented an exclusive look at the film that will transport audiences back to J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world for the first time in five years. It was a huge fan event that took place simultaneously across the globe, with people from such diverse countries as America, Brazil, Italy and France being able to submit questions to director David Yates, producer David Heyman, and cast members Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler and (via satellite) Colin Farrell and Jon Voight.
(The following contains very mild spoilers, although most of them can be noticed or surmised from the trailers that have already been released)
The first thing that we were shown was an extended trailer with several new shots, including Redmayne, Waterston and Sudol’s characters (Newt Scamander, Porpentina Goldstein and Queenie Goldstein) on trial for the magical creatures that Scamander has lost; Ezra Miller (who plays Credence) saying that with this film audiences “won’t know who the good guys and the bad guys are until the chips fall”; a confrontation between two wizards taking place on a bridge in a snow-covered park, a scene in a goblin gangster’s den, and a tantalising glimpse of a necklace bearing the Deathly Hallows symbol!
The first question the cast were asked was how they identified with their characters. Redmayne said he shared Scamander’s focus when it came to things he was passionate about; Waterston said that accepting the role meant having to try to live up to what you hope you’re capable of, much like Porpentina does in the film; Sudol said her character can gain insight into other people’s souls, which means she can get overwhelmed at times, and that she often felt the same way on the set of the film; Fogler said that he shared his No-Maj character’s sense of awe at entering the magical world; Farrell related to his character’s own sense of justice and determination to put right what he sees as being wrong with the world, and Voight said that like his character he is also a devoted and sometimes stern father – he also described the film as ‘wondrous’ and having a great heart.
David Yates and David Heyman were asked what it was like working with J.K. Rowling more closely on this film than ever before. They said that on the Potter films they would write drafts of the screenplays first and then come to her for advice on what needed to be changed or included afterwards, but on this project she was there from the beginning as she actually wrote the screenplay herself. They praised her ability in the past to realise and understand the difference between what works in a book and what works on screen, and that to this film in particular she brought her incredible work ethic and her ‘unstoppable imagination’.
The cast were then asked what it was like coming to work on the film, and working with Yates as a director. Redmayne said the script was one of the most fully formed he’d ever read, and that he was blown away by the attention to detail in the set dressing (for example, newspapers that never got a close up on screen were still full of properly-written articles relating to the day the scene takes place); Waterston said he was thrilled that she and the other cast members were invited to contribute with their own ideas and opinions, from the clothes they wore to the design of their wands; Sudol said Yates would make sure the actors didn’t get lost or overwhelmed by the hugeness of the sets by gathering them all together and making them feel comfortable, even going so far as to mimic the sounds of the magical creatures that would be added by CGI later on!
The answer that garnered the biggest ‘awwww!’ of the night was when Dan Folger was asked by a Brazilian fan what he learned from his character Jacob, and he replied “you don’t have to have magic powers to feel magic on the inside”. Jon Voight got a pretty big laugh when he was asked by an Italian fan who he would like to play in the wizarding world (since his character in the film is a Muggle/No-Maj) and he just looked at Farrell and said “Someone more dangerous than Colin!”. Farrell also revealed that he enjoyed his character’s sense of isolation, suggesting that his character’s story/arc is separate from that of Scamander’s.
Waterston and Sudol were asked what the challenges were of joining the magical world. Waterston said it was hard getting herself to a child-like frame of mind again, in the sense of waving a magic wand and having to pretend/imagine the effect that it’s having and fully commit to that action in the scene. Sudol said it was challenging but fun to work out a ‘sisterly rhythm’ in the scenes where they do magic together, like a choreographed dance they had to learn and perform.
After the Q&A another chair was brought onto the stage, and the whole crowd erupted with excitement as the guest we’d all been hoping for appeared – J.K. Rowling herself! She revealed that during filming she was working feverishly on the scripts for the next films, and that her childish enthusiasm meant she couldn’t help but reveal secrets about the upcoming stories to the cast – “They’ve been lying to you, they know a LOT!”, she remarked. She revealed that Grindelwald with play an increasingly big role in the upcoming films, she all-but confirmed that Dumbledore will make a cameo appearance in a scene with Eddie Redmayne and Colin Farrell (whether this will be Michael Gambon or a younger actor, we won’t know until the film comes out), and then she dropped the biggest bombshell of the night … there will be a total of FIVE Fantastic Beasts films!
While we were all still reeling from that shock, the cast and crew exited the stage so that we could enjoy the first 10 minutes of the film. It opened with John William’s iconic Harry Potter theme, before morphing into a dark new theme by this film’s composer James Newton Howard. The first image was a fog-shrouded house, and in a flash a group of wizards appeared, looking up at it, one of which had bright blond hair. This was followed by a montage of newspaper headlines (which immediately brought to mind Order of the Phoenix), letting us know that this was Grindelwald, and that he is currently at large in the wizarding world.
We then see Newt Scamander arriving in New York by boat in 1926, tricking the Muggle customs officer by concealing the magical creatures hidden in his case (one of which is apparently called Dougal). The next scene features Colin Farrell’s auror character investigating a house that a witness described as being destroyed by a ‘white wind with eyes’. This same unseen entity then appears then escapes, tearing apart the road as it flees.
Scamander then approaches a bank, where a rally is happening on the steps outside. Among the crowd is Waterston’s character Porpentina, eating a hotdog(!) as the leader of the rally warns everyone that witches are real and lurking in New York city. Dan Fogler’s character Jacob pushes his way through the crowd, dropping a coin as he heads up the stairs to the bank – it’s only then that Newt discovers that a Niffler (a magical creature that’s attracted to shiny objects) has escaped from his case, and he sneaks off to try and catch it. The footage was brief, but it’s an intriguing and amusing opening to a film that certainly has a lot to live up to, but at this point looks set to deliver!
Eric Bay-Andersen
