With the seven “Harry Potter” movies grossing over $7.7 billion worldwide, it is no wonder that Warner Bros. Entertainment is looking to partner once more with J.K. Rowling to revisit the fascinating magical world she created so many years ago.
Aside from the seven “Harry Potter” books in the series, Rowling penned an adaptation of a Hogwarts textbook which Harry Potter himself owns in the first installation of the series, titled “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”
Warner Bros. approached Rowling with the idea of turning the book into film. Although hesitant at first, she said, “As I considered Warners’ proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.” The film will be Rowling’s screenwriting debut.
In the textbook, Rowling writes under the name Newt Scamander, a former Hogwarts headmaster turned researcher.
An expert in magizoology, the study of magical creatures, Scamander spent the better part of his young adult life traveling around the world, looking for and studying the magical creatures the wizarding world had to offer. The textbook is a documentation of his findings.
“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 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 commented in a press release.
“The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry’s gets underway.”
Although Warner Bros. has not released when they are starting the film’s production, Rowling seems ready to get started: “I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it.”
Rowling would also like to be kept closely involved with the project, which is why she is planning on scripting the film. “I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ realized by another writer was difficult.
Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favorite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.”
This new adaptation of the wizarding world could be a sweet taste of relief for those still experiencing Potter withdrawal, but others may see it as Rowling treading on territory that would be better left alone. Only time will tell how Potter fans will receive it.
This article draws information from BBC Weekly and Entertainment Weekly.
