JK Rowling to pen new Harry Potter spin-off series of films

littleclaude

JK Rowling to pen new Harry Potter spin-off series of films

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24067557

Great news for the UK VFX industry, that's if JK Rowling and Warner Bros make it here which I am sure they will.

I wonder if EA will get the rights for the games?

The films have grossed more than $7.7bn (£4.8bn) to date worldwide at the box office, making Harry Potter the largest-grossing film franchise in history.

moose

!

awesome, seems exciting, i love the world she created in those books.

Autocon

Super big fan of the characters and world she has created with Harry Potter. I for one cannot wait

littleclaude

I think they should go to a University in The Wizarding World that makes Hogwarts and Lord Voldemort small fish, well that's my two cents, JK you can have that one

Justin Meisse

sleuthing from the article reveals that it starts in 1927 New York and follows the author of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". According to the wiki on Newton Scamander he would have been 30 at the time and just published his bestselling book. So maybe more of a globe trotting adventure story?

almighty_gir

personally i hope it stays as far away from the main potter arc as possible. i suppose if it's set that far back in time, Dumbledore would have been in his thirties as well though, and so it would be around the time of the battles between him and Grindelwald. it's also only a decade before Dumbledore visits Tom Riddle at the orphanage, Tom Riddle being born in 1926.

so... it's definitely an interesting time to set a new movie in, they could absolutely explore the back stories of some of the characters in the main arc. i'm just not sure if that would do more harm than good.

ysalex

I think if it was anyone but JK writing, the urge to connect the mainline story to this new movie would be too strong to resist, but I believe that JK is taking this on because she has actual creative reasons for wanting to explore this age of wizarding. I'm excited to see what she does with it.

almighty_gir

for sure, the problem though is that fans of the series already know that Dumbledore and Grindelwald are in their mid thirties at this point in time, and they're both far from unknown... Dumbledore was already regarded as one of the worlds most powerful wizards by this point.

ysalex

It's true, salamander would know Dumbledore by name, and the movements of Grindlewald in Europe should be fairly common knowledge/concern for the wizarding community. This either has to be acknowledged, if Newt is going to stick amongst the wizarding community during the movie, or ignored, if he is simply going to start in NY and then branch out in the wilderness to chase down magical beasts.

I could see both movies working. A HP movie based on Newt chasing down magical creatures, with a more Brothers Grimm vibe would be amazing. But I'd equally love a movie that explores the wizard community, showing what is going on for NY wizards at the time that APWDB and Grindlewald are having their thing.

Although, I suppose maybe this is the reason she took him to NY. To get away from the European story-line.

ambershee

JK NEEDS A NEW YACHT, YEEHAW!

ysalex

I think if she wanted a new yacht, she'd buy a real-estate development firm to help her close a bid on a naval shipyard, and then buy all the land around it for twenty miles just to keep the looky-loos away.

Then she'd have it built by hand, and carried ninety miles to sea by a team of Sherpas personally hand-picked from Nepal, flow to England and educated in tea-time etiquette by the queen herself, just in case.

I suppose I'm saying she doesn't need the money.

ikken

ambershee wrote: »

JK NEEDS A NEW YACHT, YEEHAW!

as long as it's written well (and I love her writing tbh), I'm fine with all the money she's earning.

Autocon

If it was a book first then a movie I could see her dabbling a bit more with Dumbledore and Grindewald but for a short 2+ hour movie I think it will come up as nothing more than a mention of the two Wizards. There is so much to pack into a movie, especially one that is suppose to bread a slew of new movies/other tie ins and she will want to focus more on establishing the American wizarding world over going over the Dumbledore/Grindewald story which we already know the majority of as is.

A simple mention of it is a great way to tie the two worlds together without having to actually focus on it, especially with this taking place across the sea. It wouldn't be as big of a concern for American wizards being so far away.

More focus I think will be devoted to showing the wizards of the Americas as they will live vastly different from there European counter parts I would assume with the Americas being so new and they wont have these schools and buildings done in the classic castle/medieval style.

CandyStripes05

ambershee wrote: »

JK NEEDS A NEW YACHT, YEEHAW!

hahahahahaha i was thinking the same thing

ysalex

It occurs to me that APWBD and grindlewald probably be shown too much because of their homosexual relationship. Not that I care, but WB isnt the kind of studio to make blockbuster films which are in any way controversial.

GarageBay9

There needs to be a sorcerer in this one. Not a wizard that has to go through all kinds of training and instruction to wield that power, but somebody that's just a conduit of magic with so much raw power that they're a friggin' force of nature. No wands, no words, no spells or gestures, just uncontained might.

I haven't read the books, but from watching the movies, I got the distinct impression that wizarding society would struggle significantly with what to do with an individual who rivaled someone like Dumbledore in sheer capability, but did so with no training and who barely had control of it. It would be like dealing with a superweapon that had a mind of its own but no target.

JoQ

I'm curious to see how she handles writing a screenplay, as opposed to a novel. Different beast, but she's a pretty damn talented lady.

JK NEEDS A NEW YACHT, YEEHAW!

She's already more wealthy than the Queen, if she wants a new yacht, that's like the rest of us buying a beer.