The internet was a flurry last week with rumors of an unexpected eighth Harry Potter novel. According to a fabricated press release, J.K. Rowling had already written most of the novel in response to the poor performance of her recently published novel “The Casual Vacancy.” The news circulated heavily for several hours until fans realized that the date on the press release read March 31, 2013, meaning that it had been republished from an April fool’s joke earlier in the year.
However, though accounts of a new Harry Potter novel were false, fans of the franchise were delighted when news was released on September 12 that Rowling will in fact be penning the screenplay for a new spinoff series set in the wizarding world, beginning with the film entitled “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” The film will be based loosely on the Hogwarts textbook of the same name, which was published alongside the Harry Potter series in 2001, and follow the story of the textbook’s fictional author, Newt Scamander. Though the book simply describes different types of magical creatures (and where to find them), fans and critics speculate that the film will detail the adventures of Newt Scamander as he travels the world in search of these “fantastic beasts.”
In a recent press release, Rowling hinted that she was cautious of the idea at first, but felt that it was a story that needed to be written.
“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.,” Rowling said in the press release. She described herself as “protective” of Newt and his story, but also eager to return to the wizarding world that she and so many others have grown to love. The new film will also be Rowling’s debut into screenwriting, a fact which has fans rooting for the film even harder.
It is difficult to say where this new spinoff franchise will go, but Rowling’s fans are already behind her one hundred percent, clearly enchanted with anything to do with the world of Harry Potter. But will these films share the same success? We’ll just have to wait and see.
