Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them first came to bookstores muggles —excuse me, it is said non-wizards— in 2001, although it already had 52 editions in the wizarding world since its first printing in 1927. For copyright reasons, this book would be published under the authorship of JK Rowling, who donated all royalties to the charity Comic Reliefwhich focuses on projects to promote social justice and help stop poverty.
What does it have to do with Harry Potter?
what makes Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them be so loved? Well, it’s not just because it’s the work of Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente from the magical world, but it also has a touch of Harry Potter himself. The edition that reached us was a facsimile of the book that Harry would have to study the subject of Care of Magical Creatures at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It’s scribbled, daubed, and annotated by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with a foreword by Albus Dumbledore himself. A true collector’s jewel for lovers of this universe with so much magic.
On the other hand, when it came to bringing the world of Harry Potter back to the movies, the producers of the franchise decided that this book gave a lot of room to further develop the whole lore of this magical universe, being a fantastic opportunity to return to theaters with a prequel. This is how this saga went from a small book for fans to become a whole new saga of movies full of adventures and mysteries to discover within the universe that we met with Harry Potter.
What movies are part of the pentalogy of fantastic animals?
This new saga of movies also integrated into Wizarding World began in 2016. It is expected to be a pentalogy. To date, a total of three feature films have been released, while the remaining two have no confirmed date or assigned title.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)
The first installment of this film adaptation of JK Rowling’s little book came in 2016. The work was scripted by the British writer and directed by David Yachts. It consists of a prequel and in turn spinoff from Harry Potter. Initially, it was planned with the possibility of starting a series, but this was not confirmed until the film did well at the box office.
Fantastic Beasts takes us back to 1926, where newt scamander is finishing a trip around the world documenting its creatures, just like Darwin did in the real world. Upon his arrival in New York, Scamander brings with him a curious suitcase full of magical creatures. It is this suitcase that will end up getting him into trouble, because in an oversight, the protagonist listens to Mary Lou Barebone and a Niffler escapes from the suitcase. The investigator manages to recover the specimen, but Jacob Kowalski, a ‘non-magical’ citizen ends up seeing him. Faced with the rush, Newt Scamander tries to remove him from the area to erase his memory. But unfortunately for his, Kowalski knocks him out and runs away with his suitcase.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)
This film takes place months after what happened in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Gellert Grindelwaldthe dark wizard, is being transported to Europe to undergo trial for their crimes. During the trip to London he manages to escape thanks to the help of Abernathy, a former employee of the Magical Congress of the United States.
Newt Scamander manages to overturn his foreign travel ban at the British Ministry of Magic (although it was understandable after the one he formed the last time he was allowed to cross the border). There he meets Leta Lestrange, a former classmate at Hogwarts. Newt is given permission to travel again on the condition that he finds Credence Barebone, a dark very dangerous.
Dumbledore’s Secrets (2022)
In 2022, according to the original rundown, the fourth installment of Fantastic Animals should have arrived. However, the pandemic delayed the studio’s forecasts, which had to cancel filming in 2020. Later, another important change would occur that would further delay this third installment.
This movie is the eleventh part of Wizarding World. The pandemic was not the only impediment that the filming had. Also the controversy in which he was involved Johnny Depp encouraged the studio to do without the actor, who was replaced by Mads Mikkelsen to play Grindelwald, despite the fact that the fans opposed the band considering that this character was one of the best interpretations of Depp’s career.
Regarding the plot, this installment finally focuses on the inevitable, that is, on what Albus Dumbledore knows about the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. To stop him, Dumbledore enlists the help of magizoologist Newt Scamander. This is how they will come to lead their own group of witches and wizards. On the other hand, Grindelwald will also have his own legion of followers.
characters of the series
In the absence of the pentalogy being completed in theaters, these are some of the most important characters that have had a presence in the movies:
- newt scamander. Played by Eddie Redmayne, and is the original author—in fiction—of the book itself Fantastic beasts and where to find them. He is a magizoologist of British origin, very eccentric and quite unspeakable.
- Porpentine, also known as ‘Tina’ Goldstein. She is a former aurora who worked for MACUSA, that is, the Unique Magical Congress of the American Society.
- Grindelwald, also known as ‘the dark magician’, the most feared until the arrival of the unmentionable. This character was played by Johnny Depp and by Mads Mikkelsen from the third film.
- Jacob Kowalsky: a Muggle who ends up discovering the secrets of the magical community after his encounter with Newt Scamander. The role is performed by comedian Dan Fogler.
- Percival Graves: Played by Colin Farrell, he is the director of MACUSA and is the one in charge of locating Newt Scamander after his incident with the magical creatures.
- albus dumbledore: The one who will end up being the headmaster of Hogwarts is played by Jude Law.
Where to watch the Fantastic Beasts movies?
Being a Warner production, the Fantastic Beasts movies are available on the platform hbo max. However, you can also see them (prior rental, of course) on platforms such as Amazon Prime Video and other websites that have this type of products. Still, you can watch the first two installments of the saga on HBO Max without paying more than the price of a monthly membership.
The third will be published when they pass 45 days from the theatrical releasewhich is the time that HBO Max usually establishes to upload its original productions to its platform.
