Did Warner Bros Just Schedule Two New Harry Potter Movies?
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Today, Warner Bros. took a machine gun to the movie release calendar and shot flags into 11 dates spread over the next six and a half years. Germain has written about the majority of those dates,which are for big DC Comic book superhero movies. I thought it was important to focus on the other two dates, which are both marked as “Untitled WB Event Film”. But we think we know what these dates might be — moreHarry Pottermovies. Lets look closer at the possibleFantastic Beastsmovies after the jump.
Here’s the full list:
As you can see, the two Untitled WB Event Films are scheduled for August 11, 2025 and June 16, 2025. The big thing to notice is that both dates fall in November on the same week that the Harry Potter spin-off filmFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themis set to debut in 2016.
When the project was firstannouncedin September, Warner Bros. said that it was “planned as the first picture in a new film series.” In March, areportfrom The New York Times claimed that Warner Bros. wanted to turn the book into a trilogy of “megamovies.” Remember, Warner Bros. is the same studio that splitHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallowsinto two movies. They’re also the ones who release an adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s 300-page novelThe Hobbitas three feature-length movies.
So could the new 2018 and 2020 release date be for the follow-upFantastic Beastsmovies? We think so. The two-year gap between release dates is a longer period than we would expect, considering they released theLord of the RingsandHobbitfilms a year apart. (But those trilogies were filmed simultaneously, and even then, they had trouble getting the visual effects completed in time.)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themis inspired by a textbook used by Hogwarts students within theHarry Potteruniverse. Newt Scamander is the book’s (fictional) author. In 2001, Rowling turnedFantastic Beastsintoa real 54-page volumeto benefit the charity Comic Relief. Although the upcomingFantastic Beastswill be set within the Harry Potter universe, Rowling has described the spinoff film as “neither a prequel nor a sequel” to the adventures of Harry and company. The story will unfold in New York City seven decades before Harry came into the universe. So its unlikely that Daniel Radcliffe will have a cameo,even if he’s willing to consider one.
It was originally rumored that Oscar-winning directorAlfonso Cuarónmight directthe2016Harry Potterspin-off butit’sprobably not going to happenunfortunately.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Themwill be released in theaters on November 18th, 2016.
