According to widely reported accounts, Warner Brothers may be shelving the Fantastic Beasts series. With the last two films getting less positive response and less box office response than the
first one, it appears we may not see the remaining two stories in Newt’s series, or at least not anytime soon. Some news stories blame controversy or the rumored feud between the studios and Rowling, but it seems far more likely that the issue is financial. According to the Internet Movie Database, the first Fantastic Beasts film grossed $814,044,001 worldwide, but the second only grossed $654,855,901 and the third $405,161,334. Franchises are supposed to make more money with each installment, or at least have close box offices, not drop sharply in revenue. For comparison, the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone earned $1,023,842,938 and the eighth film, the second part of The Deathly Hallows, generated $1,342,359,942. Each of the different installments had varying returns, but they all continue to be successful, generating income and running repeatedly on syndication. Warner Bros has cut other projects that were not expected to perform well.
While some outlets are declaring the Fantastic Beasts series as dead as Professor Binns, other stories are focusing on Warner Brothers’ interest in making more Harry Potter movies, with Rowling, if she is interested. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav says the studio is really interested in franchises and wants to see “if we can do something with J.K. on Harry Potter going forward.” The fact that he refers to her as “J.K.,” rather than as “Jo,” or “Rowling,” is interesting, and he also seems to be confused about the potential for more films about Harry, seeing the franchise as just another cash cow rather than as an adaptation of a book series whose books have all been adapted. Some think Warner Bros may try to move forward with a Cursed Child adaptation, and some of the the film’s stars and director Chris Columbus seem interested, but the studio’s franchise focus may instead mean that the entire series could be getting a reboot with entirely new actors.
If Newt’s big screen adventures are over, will there be book adaptations to connect the dots between the prequels and the beginning of Harry’s story? Do you care? Thoughts, theories?
I’de be happier with a book series. Movie are fun, but books are always, so much better. I’m optimistic that our dear JKR will provide us with a delightful resolution eventually. Newt is such a fine character. I would of course, be very happy if the movies were to continue.
Honestly disliked each movie of this series more than the last, I struggle to consider them canon, and wouldn’t miss them if they were gone. I think they were congested with too many cameos (of both celebrity and canonical natures), convoluted the world-building that had seemed so consistent in the original HP book series, and perhaps waited a bit too long to delve into the Dumbledore/Grindelwald epoch (seems like it, but time will tell).
The idea of the movies was excellent., they just did not translate will on the screen, and they did not Introduce the Characters from the US
School . If was not for YouTube, the for houses of the US school of witchcraft and wizard was explained
I think WB, went off the concept that the fans would automatically just go with flow.
K. Little says.
December 16, 2022. In a Society that politicizes everything, her opinions are not popular with certain groups. Therefore her fans and the fans of her work, will be made to pay . Loved the uniqueness of this series and all the characters , whether from American or the U K. I hope she produces at least two more books to conclude the story of Newt Scamander. He is loved dearly.
I’m a big fan of Newt and his friends — especially the magical creatures. I would love to see a fourth and fifth movie and see how their stories and adventures continue. At first watch, i initially found the first film to be too densely written. But, then i realized it was JK Rowling packing a lot in. If the stories were told in a way that they vould be less dense and have more magical creatures and Newt doing his work in the field … That would be awesome!
The first Fantastic Beasts movie is my favorite movie in the JKR magical world, I prefer it to any of the Harry Potter movies, since I like the books so much more. I think however, that JKR isn’t really a script writer, the world would have been better served if she had written books and allowed Steve Kloves or someone to do a screenplay adaption.
I love Newt and Jacob and Tina and Queenie and Lolly and Bunty and want to learn more about them, somehow.