The New Harry Potter "Spin-Off" Movie

[Spidey Revivey]

Best-selling "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling will return to the wizarding world for her screenplay debut with a film inspired by one of her fictional boy wizard's textbooks.

Rowling has agreed to write the screenplay for "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them", a film from Warner Bros. based on the adventures of Newt Scamander - the fictional author of a Hogwarts textbook of the same name.

"I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it," Rowling said on Thursday in an emailed statement from Warner Bros. Entertainment, a unit of Time Warner Inc.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" will be the first in a series of films about the adventures of Scamander and will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, the 48-year-old Rowling said.

But the story will start in New York, 70 years before the Potter tale gets under way.

"Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world," she said.

Warner Bros. has distribution rights outside Britain of the BBC TV adaptation of Rowling's first adult novel "The Casual Vacancy", Harry Potter theme parks, websites, videogames and consumer products.

Rowling said that Warner Bros. approached her with the pitch for the film, but she could not stomach the idea of someone else writing one of her own characters.

"I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of ‘Fantastic Beasts', realized by another writer was difficult," she said.

"As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favorite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood."

Since her seven Harry Potter novels became a global publishing phenomenon, selling an estimated 450 million copies, Rowling's every move is followed closely by the industry.

The books, and a hugely successful movie franchise, helped turn her into the world's first author billionaire.

However, Rowling has repeatedly said that she had no plans to write any more about the world of Harry Potter since her last book in the series "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" came out in 2007.

There you have it. According to The Chicago Tribune and several other news sources, there appears to be a new Harry Potter film underway- without the boy wizard. A screenplay is in the works as I type this so apparently a new wizardly movie will be out in the future.

So, my opinion about this is rather solemn to be honest. The Harry Potter Franchise will be one of the most beloved children's stories in history. Casual Vacancy, not as popular, but still a huge hit nonetheless for Rowling. But I don't believe many movie goers, or even potterphiles, are that interested in seeing this particular wizard story. But then again that's my opinion, and I am a Potterphile.

The poll is the poll. Is this a good idea; something you want to see? Is this complete Dudley dumb shit? Discuss.

 

[HBK-aholic]

It's not what I would have envisioned, if Rowling ever was to go down the Spin-Off route, though maybe that's a good thing? There are very few parts of the Potter-verse that the obsessive fans (Me) haven't pictured, discussed, written about, or already have high expectations for due to their imaginations whilst reading. Scamander is a part of the books in the smallest way possible, with next to no information given about him or his family, meaning Rowling can truly grow the character in the ways only she can.

Regardless of what it's about, anything written by our Queen, especially in terms of magic and imagination, is worthy of watching/reading and I'll be first in line to see it.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Harry Potter returning to the big screen in the form of a reboot or a spin-off is something that was going to happen some day. That's inevitable. Potter is one of the most lucrative and successful film franchises of all time, and we all know about the massive fan following for the books.

As far as films go, I wasn't the biggest fan of Order Of The Phoenix and The Deathly Hallows Part I, but I thoroughly enjoyed the other films, with Goblet Of Fire being my favorite. Fans will line up around the block to see this, because Rowling and Potter have a strong and loyal fanbase. I don't know if Gary Oldman is willing to return to reprise the role, but I would love a HP film centered around Sirius Black, because he was one of the more intriguing characters in the series.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

I like this. Although I have forgotten a lot about the series (even though I've read all the books), this seems like quite a nice spin-off. It could take a life of its own, but there are a lot of HP fans who have grown up now so dunno how BIG this is. I still see the movie doing really well though.