Once The Crimes of Grindelwald didn’t meet expectations, both financially and in terms of fan reception, Warner Bros. hit the pause button on the Fantastic Beasts franchise in order to make sure they were heading in the right direction. After production was pushed back from this summer, it was recently announced that Fantastic Beasts 3 is now officially a go again and it seems the studio has worked out the best way to fix things.
Variety reports that WB is keen to recapture some of that Harry Potter magic and so will be increasing the role of Hogwarts and its future headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the third film. The Wizarding school briefly returned in Crimes, to much enthusiasm from Potterheads, while Jude Law made his debut as Albus in a supporting role in the film to much acclaim. In FB3, more of the action will take place in Hogwarts and Law will have more of a leading part.
The same report also reveals that the studio has brought on Steve Kloves, scribe of seven out of eight of the HP movies, to brush up J.K. Rowling’s script. This is a bit of change from previous installments, with the first two being penned by the series creator alone. Variety also writes that WB execs are said to be “high on the script they’ve seen, believing it represents a big step forward in quality.”
Despite the increased role of Hogwarts, FB3 will be mostly set in Rio De Janeiro, following the globe-trotting premise of the prequel series – the first took place in New York, the second in Paris. Jessica Williams, who had a small role in Crimes, will be a much more significant player this time around as Eulalie “Lally” Hicks as well, a teacher at Ilvermorny, the American magic school. And, of course, Johnny Depp will return as Gellert Grindelwald.
Fantastic Beasts 3 is scheduled to start filming this spring before its release in November 2021.
