May
14
2014
0

Release date announced for new J.K. Rowling movie

Harry Potter fans, mark your calendars.

J.K. Rowling’s 2001 book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them got the green light from Warner Bros. Last September for a three-part movie series. Now, there’s  a release date for part one of that trilogy- November 18, 2016.

While Warner Bros. and Rowling intend the series to have a similar feel to the existing films set in the wizarding world (perhaps to get some mileage out of their existing props and sets) Fantastic Beasts will definitely be a spinoff rather than a prequel. With a script written by the original book’s author, this expansion of the world is in good hands.

Following the adventures of Newt Scamander, the wizard who penned the titular Hogwarts textbook, the film will be set in the early part of the 20th century. This places all of the action around 70 years before the Potter saga. The characters will also be hopping the pond, showing us the life of witches and wizards in New York rather than carrying on in the U.K. Beyond that, not much is known about the series as no casting has been done and no directors or producers have been chosen (except for Rowling).