The new Harry Potter? JK Rowling to pen film series based on her wizarding world
The British author is working with Warner Bros to create a film series based on her Potter-inspired book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Contain yourselves Potter fans. It's happened.
JK Rowling has waved her magic wand and is bringing the wizarding world of Harry Potter back to the big screen.
The British author, who penned the bestselling series of Harry Potter novels, is teaming up with Warner Bros to give us more tales of witches, wizards, spells, potions and magical creatures. She has today announced plans to turn her book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a series of films, which will be "an extension of the wizarding world."
Rowling has revealed that the film series "will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years" but Potter fans will be waiting a while for a glimpse of their favourite wizard. The author has said that the films will "neither [be] a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series."
In fact, the film, which is inspired by Harry's Hogwarts textbook, will focus instead on the book's fictitious author Newt Scamander. "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," said Rowling, "but Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway."
The film will see Rowling make her screenwriting debut. She said that "the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of Fantastic Beasts, realised by another writer was difficult" so "an idea took shape that I couldn’t dislodge" and she ended up pitching her own idea to the filmmakers.
"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 concluded.
Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara said: "We are incredibly honored that Jo has chosen to partner with Warner Bros. on this exciting new exploration of the world of wizardry which has been tremendously successful across all of our businesses. She is an extraordinary writer, who ignited a reading revolution around the world, which then became an unprecedented film phenomenon. We know that audiences will be as excited as we are to see what her brilliant and boundless imagination conjures up for us."
