With over two years between now and the arrival of the anticipated Harry Potter spinoff trilogy Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, there's still plenty of time for updates on the project. Last we heard, Fantastic Beasts was circling David Yates to direct the first film in the expected trilogy, which is expected to be set some seventy years before Harry Potter set foot at Hogwarts. But how's the screenplay coming along? Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is writing that herself, and from what she says, she's still "tweaking" it. Check out the tweet the author posted earlier today:
Though she doesn't outright say that the screenplay she's working on is Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, it's probably safe to assume that's the project she's tweaking. If we're interpreting use of the word "tweaking" correctly, it sounds like she might be finalizing the script, adding updates, tightening up the story and/or working in whatever magic Rowling has access to that makes her stories so great. We can only hope! Just the thought that Rowling has been expanding her universe for the sake of a new movie is exciting enough. But it's great to hear an update on the status of the project.
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is set to center on Newt Scamander, the fictional author of Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, a book penned by Rowling in 2001, which catalogs various magical beasts in the Harry Potter universe. The planned films will be set decades ahead of Harry Potter's era and are expected to elaborate on Newt's story and adventures. With the screenplay still being written and the book offering very little in terms of characters and the story for this movie, fans are left to wait for updates on the project.
I'm hopeful that casting updates will give us more to work with in terms of speculating on the story. And I doubt I'm alone in hoping for some kind of confirmation -- we'll even accept a vague hint at this point! -- that Albus Dumbledore might factor into the movie somehow. Dumbledore would've been in his late thirties/early forties during the time that Newt Scamander first set off to study Fantastic Beasts for the book he was writing. And we don't know whether or not he knew Dumbledore during that time, but the Grand Sorcerer, Supreme Mugwump, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and eventual Headmaster of Hogwarts did write the forward for the special edition of Newt's book, and he seemed pretty honored to get to do that, which might be an indication that they were friends. Dumbledore did tend to keep good company.
While J.K. Rowling's Tweet offers no details or hints about what to expect from the film, it does seem like an indication that the writing process may be wrapping up, and that's something. It certainly sounds like her plate is full, between the screenplay, a new novel that she's penning, and her involvement with the Lumos charity. In the meantime, we'll continue to hang on her every word, in search of possible clues about the film.
Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is expected to arrive in theaters November 18, 2016.
