The Harry Potter universe is expanding with an upcoming trilogy of films based on the slim spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Now, we’re learning that the first installment in the fantasy trio has a very familiar release date: November 18th, 2016. That third weekend of November is the same one where four of the eight Harry Potter films debuted at the top of the box office.
Potter author and multi-millionaire J.K. Rowling wrote the book (and the film’s screenplay), which is based off a fictional tome that wizarding students read at Hogwarts. Although the slender, 42-page novel is little more than an A-Z anthology of mystical creatures, there is no person one would rather have adapt Rowling’s vision onto the screen than the author herself.
For those not familiar with the source material, the story will follow Newt Scamander, the fictional author of the book that gives the film its title, and is slated to take place in New York, around 70 years before the arrival of The Boy Who Lived.
By slotting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in the pre-Thanksgiving weekend, one that is now normally reserved for large franchises due to Potter’s success in mid-November, Warner Bros. is showing a lot of confidence in the film’s box office potential, and something tells me that they won’t be disappointed.
Currently, no one else has the November 18 release date, although two other films also aimed at young and fantasy audiences have a planned released for that month as well. DreamWorks Animation has Trolls coming out on the 4th, while an untitled animated Disney film gets the company’s usual Thanksgiving berth. Regardless, it will have been more than five years at that point since a Potter film came out, so anticipation will probably be paramount.
There is currently no director or cast members signed on for Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, but expect to hear more news shortly.
