JK Rowling, author of the internationally best-selling Harry Potter series, recently announced that she will once again be working alongside Warner Brothers Studios - this time in her first screen-writing debut. The project? A movie for another of Rowling’s books,set in the same fantastic universe, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
According to a recent USA Today article, this film will be the first in a series inspired by the textbooks featured in Harry’s world and will follow the adventures of the book's fictitious author, Newt Scamander. According to a piece featured in The Independent, Kevin Tsujihara, chief executive of Warner Bros, described the developing project as, “[an] exciting new exploration of the world of wizardry.”
“It all started when [the studio] came to me with a suggestion of turning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a film. I thought it was a fun idea,” says Rowling, when speaking about her decision to write the screenplay herself. “Having lived for so long in my own fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt.” The author describes her decision as an “idea that [she] couldn’t dislodge,” prompting her to pitch her own idea for the film.
Rowling says of the still-developing project that it will not be a sequel or a prequel to the Harry Potter series and will merely serve as an extension to the world that she has created, loved and lived in for 17 years. “Newt’s story will start in New York,” she says, “70 years before Harry’s gets underway.”
Every Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Griffindor who has enjoyed Harry’s magical ride alongside Rowling is no doubt looking forward to the completion of what is sure to be an incredible film.
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