Good news, Harry Potter fans! Warner Bros. has confirmed that J.K. Rowling will be making her screenwriting debut with a spin-off to her mega-popular book series with film adaptations of her fictitious textbook, "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
The new film series, announced today via J.K. Rowling's official Facebook, will be based off of the Hogwarts textbook of the same name, featuring the book's fictional author, Newt Scamander.
"Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen years, 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world," Rowling wrote on her Facebook page.
"It all started when Warner Bros. came to me with the suggestion of turning 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' into a film. I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of 'Fantastic Beasts', realized by another writer was difficult. Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood. As I considered Warners' proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn't dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros."
Though Rowling has said before that she does not intend to write a prequel nor a sequel to her beloved "Harry Potter" novels, the new series will allow the superstar author to let fans further explore her wizarding world without touching on the lives of Harry and friends, all of whom she has now had closure with.
Rowling has in fact written a short prequel to "Harry Potter," an 800-word story on Sirirus Black and James Potter that takes place three years before the birth of Harry. It was published in June 2008, handwritten on a card and auctioned off for English PEN, the writers' association, and the Dyslexia Society, but was never released officially for the public or expanded upon.
Luckily for fans, the new film series will be written by Rowling herself and not adapted by an outside screenwriter.
"I particularly want to thank Kevin Tsujihara of Warner Bros. for his support in this project, which would not have happened without him," Rowling wrote. "I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it."
Since she finished the "Harry Potter" books, Rowling has written two more adult novels, "The Casual Vacancy," and her crime fiction novel "The Cuckoo's Calling," which she penned and published under pseudonym Robert Galbraith so that reviews would not be biased towards her. Later, she revealed she was indeed the author of the new series.
