JK Rowling To Write ‘Harry Potter’ Spinoff Film ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Without Harry Potter
JK Rowling is set to write a new "Harry Potter" movie without Harry Potter. The British author will be writing a screenplay for a Warner Bros movie that is "neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series."
Instead, the new film will be an "extension" of the world of wizardry that is the main setting for the Potter series.
Warner Bros announced on Thursday that Rowling will write the screenplay for a new movie based on the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," which is based on the Hogwarts textbook of the same name in the Potter series. It will also feature the fictitious author, Newt Scamander.
"It all started when Warner Bros came to me with the suggestion of turning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of Newt Scamander, the supposed author of Fantastic Beasts, realised by another writer was difficult," Rowling said in a statement.
"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."
As the bestselling author explained, the new film, which is expected to be the first of a series, it will be set in the worldwide community of wizards and witches, but will neither be a prequel or sequel to the Potter series.
"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."
The film studio did not mention how many films will be included in the planned series.
Also getting the Warner Bros treatment is Rowling's first non-Potter book, "The Casual Vacancy." The film studio will serve as the worldwide TV distributor of the novel's TV adaptation. The miniseries will commence production in 2014.
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