'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them': JK Rowling Is Going to Write Some More 'Harry Potter' Movies

When you can print money with a movie franchise, it's highly unlikely that franchise will ever die. That's why Disney keeps making Pirates of the Caribbean movies. That's why Warner Bros. has quickly rebooted the Batman franchise with Ben Affleck. On Thursday, Warner Bros. also announced that it would be returning to the world of Harry Potter, with author JK Rowling adapting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them for the big screen.

At the center of the partnership is a new film series from Rowling’s world of witches and wizards, inspired by Harry Potter’s Hogwarts textbook “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and the adventures of the book’s fictitious author, Newt Scamander. The announcement was made by Kevin Tsujihara, Chief Executive Officer, Warner Bros. Entertainment. 

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” will be an original story and will mark Rowling’s screenwriting debut. It is planned as the first picture in a new film series. Set in the wizarding world, the story will feature magical creatures and characters, some of which will be familiar to devoted Harry Potter fans. 

“Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen 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,” said Rowling. “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, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.”

Welcome to the Harry Potter prequel series. Yes, I know that Rowling says "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is neither a prequel or a sequel to the Harry Potter series," but let's be serious here. If you're setting the new film series 70 years before the Harry Potter movies, it's a prequel. I'm sure Newt Scamander will have run-ins with other famous Harry Potter characters in their young years too.

No word yet on when Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will hit theaters.