Story by Annika Grassl
Last week, Universal Studios and J.K. Rowling announced a new screenplay in the works.
This is a continuation of the wizarding world and is based on Newt Scamander’s book “Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them,” which Harry receives in the first book of the series, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
“Fantastic Beasts” is one of the textbooks that Harry uses while at Hogwarts. He writes notes in the margins that foreshadow future events in the novels.
Seven books and eight movies highlighted the childhoods of many.
Today, students reflect on what drew them to the book turned movie series.
“I liked the casting in the movie series,” first-year Jordan Sabine said. I felt like they were really good actors.”
Junior Hanna Howard agreed with Sabine.
“The casting choices were all spot-on from beginning to end, which is probably what I loved most about the movies,” Sabine said.
“J.K. Rowling actually published an edition of ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ as a kind of fun, supplementary thing to the Harry Potter books and this new movie will be based on that and the yet-unknown adventures of its author, Newt Scamander.”
Rowling made it clear that this is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the seven-book, eight -movie franchise.
Instead, Warner Bros. approached her with the idea of the “Fantastic Beasts” movie first.
In the Harry Potter series, Scamander wrote “Fantastic Beasts” in 1918 in New York after he traveled for a decade around the world.
Since the Harry Potter series took place in England during the 1990s, and the book “Fantastic Beasts” was written in 1918, the predictions for the movie include time travel to connect the two time periods.
Howard is curious to see whether or not characters known from the original series will return, such as Albus Dumbledore.
Since the movie is supposed to take place in New York, it will give the movie a new angle. Howard is excited to see how this interpetation will turn out.
“I think this new movie will make the series seem more real to viewers if we know more about the authors of the books that Harry uses,” Sabine said.
Sabine continued to reflect on her fond memories of the franchise.
“Watching the Harry Potter movies, I was always excited about the possibility that my Hogwarts letter would be coming soon and the knowledge that I would be prepared when I started my wizarding journey,” Sabine said.