Moviefone Editorial

Tag: fantastic-beasts

  • ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Could Snag $75 Million on Opening Weekend

    As Warner Bros. prepares for the hotly-anticipated release of “Harry Potter” spinoff flick “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the studio is hoping for some magical numbers at the box office. Of course, with the film’s status a heretofore unknown story, it remains to be seen just how huge its opening weekend haul will be.

    Early estimates are pegging the flick for a domestic gross of around $75 million during its first few days of release, in addition to pulling in a hefty sum from foreign markets, putting the film’s total opening weekend take at around $200 million globally. That’s certainly not a number to sneeze at, but prognosticators note that Warner Bros. isn’t ignorant to the fact that “Beasts” is not “Harry Potter,” no matter how linked the two franchises may be.

    “It’s not going to open like a Harry Potter film,” said Eric Handler, an analyst with MKM Partners. “People are still trying to figure out what this story is about and who the characters are.”

    Still, as Variety notes, Warner Bros. is already putting plenty of faith in the burgeoning franchise, expanding the planned number of films from the previously announced three to a new total of five flicks. “Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who made her screenwriter debut with “Beasts,” will pen all of the films in the series.

    “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” opens this Friday, November 18.

    [via: Variety]

  • New ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Clips: Eddie Redmayne Is in Serious Trouble

    Getting caught smuggling dangerous animals into the U.S. is never good, but it’s especially bad when you’re a wizard at risk of violating the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. Add in a tense political climate, and the situation goes from bad to worse.

    That’s what we have to look forward to in J.K. Rowling’s “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” as we can see in new clips released Monday by Warner Bros. Pictures. The sneak peek videos show Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) landing in hot water thanks to a “No-Maj” (the American term for “Muggle”) named Jacob.With Newt’s magical creatures on the loose, he knows he’s in for all kind of problems. He tries to get some help, but unfortunately, it looks like the price is too high.The accident with Newt’s suitcase doesn’t seem very accidental to some. In fact, he’s suspected of having very dire motives — ones that connect him to a dangerous character introduced in the Harry Potter series.“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” hits theaters on Nov. 18.

  • David Yates Plans to Direct All Five ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Movies

    The same director plans to direct all of the “Fantastic Beasts” movies, so there shouldn’t be any striking differences — unlike going from Chris Columbus’s child-like first two “Harry Potter” movies to the dark, artsy maturity of Alfonso Cuaron’s “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.” Then again, if you don’t like the direction of the first “Fantastic Beasts” movie you can’t hope that someone else will hop on board with a fresh take.

    David Yates joined the Potter family as the director of the fifth film, “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,” and got Warner Bros.’s vote of confidence to stay on for “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” and both “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2.”

    Yates returned to direct “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which is a prequel of sorts to Harry Potter, set in the same universe but decades earlier. J.K. Rowling wrote the script, and revealed that she’s planning for five movies, as opposed to the initial expectation of three. Yates told The Hollywood Reporter that he is on board for all of the “Beasts” ahead:

    “I love making films, and I’ve got a great team, all of whom are like family. I only look at it movie to movie.”

    It does sound like there’s a detailed plan for what’s ahead, and the second film won’t be a retread of the first. Yates told THR the sequel “feels so different from this. Much more haunting, like a dream.” He said Rowling is currently putting the finishing touches on that second script, and he’s working with the crew in pre-production, building sets of Paris, France and Watford, England.

    The first “Fantastic Beasts” movie opens November 18. The second film is scheduled for November 16, 2018, co-starring Johnny Depp as the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald and a yet-to-be-revealed actor as the young Albus Dumbledore.

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  • Albus Dumbledore Will Be ‘Troubled’ in ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Sequel, Says J.K. Rowling

    Harry Potter fans know (and love) Albus Dumbledore as an elderly Hogwarts Headmaster, but we’ll see a new side of him in the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” series.

    Although the powerful wizard won’t appear in the first film in the five-part series, wizarding world creator J.K. Rowling has confirmed that a younger version of Dumbledore will appear in later installments, starting with the second. When the time comes, he’ll be very different from the professor and paternal figure we’re used to. At a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Rowling revealed that we’ll see him as “a younger man and quite a troubled man,” according to Variety.

    We’ll also learn more about his sexuality, a topic not addressed in the Harry Potter books and films. In fact, it wasn’t until a 2007 interview that Rowling outed him, as reported by The Leaky Cauldron.

    “I always thought of Dumbledore as gay,” she said at the time, adding that he “fell in love” with his then-friend, Gellert Grindlewald.

    It seems likely that parts of their complicated relationship will play out onscreen in future “Fantastic Beasts” films given that Johnny Depp was recently cast as the man Dumbledore loved. That should add a bit more drama to an already tumultuous period.

    “Fantastic Beast and Where to Find Them” opens on Nov. 18.

    [via: Variety]

  • ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Director Explains Why Johnny Depp Was Cast as Grindelwald

    Why him? Johnny Depp is playing the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in a cameo in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” and in a larger role in the second of five planned movies. “Fantastic Beasts” director David Yates and producer David Heyman — longtime “Harry Potter” team members — talked to The Leaky Cauldron about what’s ahead for the franchise, and explained why Depp was chosen for this “iconic” role.

    Here’s what director David Yates told the site:

    “[T]he whole principal of casting the movie was go with the best actor. Go for the most inspired, interesting, right fit for that character. And as we approached Grindelwald we thought, ‘Who’s going to take this in an interesting direction?’ In this business, it’s a weird old business. You’re brilliant one week, people are saying odd things the next, you go up and down. But no one takes away your pure talent. Johnny Depp is a real artist. He’s created several characters who have really resonated in our popular culture. He’s a really brilliant, brilliant actor. We were excited about seeing what he would do with this guy, the character. He’s fearless; he’s imaginative; he’s ambitious. We thought he would do something fun and special. So we went for him, purely on that selfish basis. We don’t care if he’s famous or not famous. We just know he’s interesting.”

    Here’s more on Depp from producer David Heyman:

    “Grindelwald is an iconic character, so it was important to have someone who had that weight. There’s a reason why he has that weight. It’s because, you know, he’s a fine actor who makes unexpected choices.”

    Unexpected choices. Yes. Yates confirmed to the site that the “beasts” of the title currently feature slightly less in the second film, “and Grindelwald takes more of a foreground. Currently. But we love the beasts so much. There’s an amazing beast in the second movie–a Chinese beast, actually–that is featured. We’re exploring how we can get a couple more beasts into the second film, with Jo.” Jo is obviously author/screenwriter/Potter queen J.K. Rowling.

    Yates said the second “Fantastic Beasts” film will primarily take place in Paris and the U.K. “I’m not sure where Jo is setting the rest of the movies, but they’ll be European-centric. I think it will be difficult to ignore America, but the next one is predominately Europe.”

    And you probably saw that they are now casting for a younger Dumbledore, opposite Grindelwald. That should be an interesting dynamic to watch moving forward, as the story shifts across the pond.

    The first “Fantastic Beasts” movie opens Friday, November 18.

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  • ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Sequels Casting Young Dumbledore

    Fantastic Beasts

    Dumbledore lives!

    At least the beloved wizard will live in the “Harry Potter” prequel series “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.”

    Fans have long speculated that a younger version of Albus Dumbledore would appear in the new series following Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne). Now, director David Yates confirms to Screenrant that this will be the case:

    In the second movie Dumbledore comes back. He’s got a couple of good scenes with Newt… We’re discussing who would play Dumbledore, any suggestions would be good. [Laughs]

    Dumbledore’s inclusion in the “Fantastic Beasts” sequels (there are five planned) makes sense particularly since dark wizard Gellart Grindelwald figures to be the main villain. Before he was headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dumbledore was the Transfiguration teacher. He was also a childhood friend of Grindelwald, and the two plotted to acquire all three of the powerful Deathly Hallows.

    Eventually, the two parted on bitter terms and Grindelwald began a career as a fearsome dark wizard. It would take — spoiler alert — an epic duel fought by Dumbledore to stop him.

    The question of who might play young Dumbledore is fascinating. The character was played by, first, Richard Harris, and then Michael Gambon in the “Harry Potter” movies. It seems Johnny Depp will play Grindelwald, so the actor should be around the same age. May we suggest keeping it in the family and cast Jared Harris (Richard’s son)?

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  • Johnny Depp to Star in ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Sequel

    Captain Jack Sparrow, meet Harry Potter.

    According to Deadline, Johnny Depp will have a co-starring role in the second movie in the “Fantastic Beasts” series. They added that you might even be able to spot Depp in a cameo in the first movie, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which opens November 18.

    The site had no further details on Depp’s role, they just “confirmed” that he would be in the sequel, which David Yates will direct early next year with Eddie Redmayne returning as Newt Scamander.

    Author J.K. Rowling recently revealed that the “Fantastic Beasts” trilogy would actually be a five-film series set before the time of Harry Potter. The cast of the first film talked a bit more about that at EW Pop Fest, teasing what’s ahead in the “epic” larger story of “good versus evil.”

    At a fan event in early October, it was revealed that the sequel setting will shift to a new prominent city other than New York City, and Grindelwald “is going to become a much more prominent part of the story going forward.”

    Speaking of Grindelwald, first film co-star Ezra Miller just shared a video tying “Fantastic Beasts” to the universe of the “Harry Potter” books, through that powerful dark wizard:

    What does any of this have to do with Johnny Depp? No idea yet. You don’t think he’s Grindelwald, do you?

    UPDATE: Yes, apparently he is Grindelwald, and you can see his head in a recent behind-the-scenes featurette.

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  • Wizards Are on ‘High Alert’ in New ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Featurette

    The wizarding world in America looks like a scary one in a new “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” featurette.

    The three-plus-minute video shines light on life for American witches and wizards in the 1920s, and it’s clear that their struggle is real. As screenwriter and “Harry Potter” creator J.K. Rowling tell us in the featurette, “magic developed very differently” stateside. Secrecy is of the absolute utmost importance, so you can understand why it’s a problem when protagonist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) inadvertently sets magical creatures loose in New York.

    Still, rounding up wild beasts looks like the least of the magical community’s concerns. With all that the characters will have to tackle, it’s no wonder “Fantastic Beasts” is only the first in a five-film series. Rowling is going to have her work cut out for her over the next several years.

    Check out her latest exploration of the magical world in the featurette below.
    “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” hits theaters on Nov. 18.

  • ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Will Be a Five-Movie Series

    When Warner Bros. first announced that it would turn Hogwarts textbook “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” into a film, the initial plan for the “Harry Potter” spinoff was an ambitious three-movie series. But now, “Potter” author and “Fantastic Beasts” screenwriter J.K. Rowling has revealed that the franchise will be even bigger than initially anticipated.

    During a fan event and Q&A in London on Thursday featuring cast members from the upcoming film, Rowling made a surprise appearance and dropped some stunning news about the continuing adventures of protagonist Newt Scamander (played by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne): There will be a total of five films in the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, which will no longer be a trilogy as originally planned.


    “Beasts” marks Rowling’s screenwriting debut, and clearly, the prolific author got the movie bug, already completing the script for “Fantastic Beasts 2.” While that follow-up flick is due in theaters in 2018, it remains to be seen what the release schedule will be like for the other three films.

    At Thursday’s fan event, the cast and crew revealed a few clues about what audiences can expect in the sequel, with the setting shifting to a new prominent city (away from the first flick’s NYC action), and an important connection to Grindlewald, the evil wizard who Dumbledore battled in the original “Potter” series. Redmayne said during the event that he felt “enormous pressure” following the success of the first franchise; looks like that pressure will continue for the foreseeable future.

    “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” hits theaters on November 18.

    [via: Fantastic Beasts, The Hollywood Reporter]

  • J.K. Rowling Loved ‘Fantastic Beasts,’ Obviously

    Harry PotterFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” but according to “Potter” author and “Beasts” screenwriter J.K. Rowling, the wait will be well worth it.

    Rowling, who made her screenwriting debut on the hotly-anticipated flick, caught an advance screening of the film on Thursday, and her succinct review was nothing short of a rave. (No parsletongue required, though a fluency in emoji is helpful.) The writer took to Twitter to express her admiration for the film, and her heart-filled missive really speaks for itself.


    “Fantastic Beasts” follows the adventures of the young Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a British wizard traveling the globe collecting magical creatures for his textbook, “Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them,” which is used by Hogwarts students in the “Potter” series. But before that big break, Newt was just a bumbling budding magizoologist who wound up in 1920s New York — and wound up accidentally setting free some of his findings on the unsuspecting muggles no-majs around him.

    From what we’ve seen so far, the flick looks to be every bit as magical as the “Potter” movies, and with Rowling’s direct involvement — and now, her positive review — we’re confident that diehard Potterheads will be satisfied. Now if only we had access to Hermione’s time-turner so we could see it sooner ourselves.

    “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” hits theaters on November 18.

    [via: J.K. Rowling]

    Photo credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

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