The Harry Potter franchise has been entertaining it’s generations of fans for decades now. While it all began with J.K. Rowling’s books, the property crew thanks to movie franchises, stage plays, and theme parks. A prequel film series was also started over the last few years, titled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Potter director David Yates recently revealed his reaction to Fantastic Beasts being announced as a five-film franchise. And it’s one that you might not expect.
David Yates directed the final four Harry Potter movies, and was once again behind the camera for the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Three of those films were released, but it’s unclear if the final two Fantastic Beasts movies will ever be produced given the disappointing box office performance of its sequels. Yates recently appeared on the Inside Total Film podcast, where he revealed the shocking way that the five-film plans for Fantastic Beasts ended up coming about. As he put it,
The idea that there were going to be five films was a total surprise to most of us. Jo just mentioned it spontaneously, at a press screening once. We were presenting some clips of FB1. We’d all signed up for FB1, very enthusiastically. And Jo, bless her, came on … and said, ‘Oh, by the way, there’s five of them.’ We all looked at each other — because no one had told us there were going to be five. We’d committed to this one. So that was the first we’d heard of it.
Talk about a surprise. News of the five-film plan for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them broke the internet. And it turns out that not even those involved in the property knew about this prior to J.K. Rowling’s announcement. Although it’s unclear if we’ll ever see the final two Fantastic Beasts chapters ever be produced and released in theaters. Right now that property looks like it’s currently on pause at Warner Bros., especially given the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strikes.
While Rowling promised five movies for the Harry Potter prequel series, that is far from guaranteed. It’s truly wild that not even David Yates and Eddie Redmayne didn’t even know that there were plans for more Fantastic Beasts films, let alone an additional four blockbusters. But since movies like The Secrets of Dumbledore failed to resonate with audiences or make money, it seems more than possible that the spinoff franchise will never get a true conclusion.
2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them performed super well, with Harry Potter fans seemingly thrilled to see the Wizarding World back on the big screen. Unfortunately, the two sequels failed to bring that same joy, and had disappointing box office runs. Add in controversies like Johnny Depp’s firing as Grindelwald, and there’s seemingly a lot going against the magical movies right now.
The Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts franchises are currently streaming with a Max subscription. Be sure to check out the 2023 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.