Warner Bros. is doubling down on turning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a series of its own. And now the studio has announced that Fantastic Beasts 2 will be released in the US on 16 November 2018.
This means it’s reasonable to expect that it will be released on Australia on November 17. The studio has also confirmed that pretty much everyone involved in the first film, which is still months away from opening, will be back for the second: Director David Yates, J.K. Rowling as the screenwriter and the producers. Presumably, as is standard, the actors are locked into contracts that have them making these movies until the end of time.
The script is supposedly already written, and this announcement is well-timed to coincide with the positive feelings Harry Potter and the Cursed Child are engendering for the franchise. Plus, Rowling’s involvement makes clear that while she may say she’s done with the literal character of Harry Potter, the Potterverse itself is still going strong.
All that said, Warner Bros. better hope Fantastic Beasts goes over well. They have already publicly committed to keeping this team in place for another one, so it will look bad if they have to publicly change their minds after the first instalment of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them comes out.
[Deadline]