Warner Bros. is betting there’s still plenty of magic left in J.K. Rowling.
The studio announced a massive new partnership with the the British author to produce a new film franchise set on the world created in the Potter books — with the story kicking off in the most magical of places, New York City.
The new series, however, will not feature Daniel Radcliffe’s Harry Potter, as it’s set 70 years before the events of “The Sorcerer’s Stone.”
The first movie in the budding franchise — inspired by a Hogwarts textbook title, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” written by the fictional Newt Scamander, from the original series — will be scripted by Rowling, who is making her screenwriting debut.
“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,” said Rowling in a statement.
The eight ‘Potter’ movies grossed $7.7 billion at the box office worldwide.
Source: NY Daily News
