An early “announcement” trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them dropped today and while it’s light on details, it certainly maintains the Harry Potter movie charm. It’s only about two minutes long and most of that is black screen or title cards but enough is shown to see that this won’t be a wild departure from the visual style of the Potter world we’re use to. The only difference you’re likely to notice is a lack of British accents since this seems like it is going to take place in New York City.
Unlike the Harry Potter movies, however, this movie is actually a direct screenplay written by Rowling herself – her first such endeavor. The title has been floating around in the HP universe since very early on. The book is mentioned in the original Harry Potter novels as a textbook that is immensely popular and used at Hogwarts. Rowling produced a real-life version of the book in 2001 under the pseudonym “Newt Scamander” that had margin notes ‘written’ by Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.
This movie shares the name of the book, but focuses on the life of the author, “Newt Scamander” rather than a lot of dry discussion about magical creatures. This movie is not a prequel to the Harry Potter movies according to Rowling. It is an expansion of the wizarding universe. It is due to release in November of 2016.
(via youtube)