In a new piece profiling Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara, the New York Times reveals that J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter spinoff will at least be a trilogy.
The new series was first announced in September, and at the time we had only heard that WB hoped to turn it into a franchise. Today’s article also includes a couple of new quotes from Rowling, who spoke about how important Tsujihara’s involvement was for this plan to come together.
“When I say he made ‘Fantastic Beasts’ happen, it isn’t P.R.-speak but the literal truth,” she told the newspaper. “We had one dinner, a follow-up telephone call, and then I got out the rough draft that I’d thought was going to be an interesting bit of memorabilia for my kids and started rewriting!”
“When Kevin got the top job, he brought a new energy, which rubbed off. He’s a very engaging person, thoughtful and funny.”
Related: Rowling talks about writing the Fantastic Beasts screenplay
The New York Times describes these three Fantastic Beasts films as “megamovies.” They also noted small facts that we’ve heard before: The film will follow Newt Scamander long before Harry’s journey began. They are not prequels or sequels. They will “start in” New York.
It’s not clear at this time if there’s potential to do additional Fantastic Beasts movies beyond the three, or if Rowling’s story can stretch no further than a trilogy.
The three-film approach may’ve been inspired by Warner Bros.’ Hobbit franchise directed by Peter Jackson, which will release its finale this December. Each of the three movies were released exactly one year apart from one another and have seen huge blockbuster success at the box office.
David Heyman is producing Fantastic Beasts. A director and release date haven’t been set.
Above fan art from DeviantArt