"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is still more than 11 months away from hitting theatres, but producer David Heyman has revealed how the project came to be and how author J.K. Rowling came up with the idea to the "Harry Potter" spin-off film.
Rowling wrote the book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" as an encyclopedia of magical creatures from the wizarding world released it in 2001 for charity. Because of the style of the book, the studio behind the "Harry Potter" film franchise, Warner Bros., came to Rowling with an idea for a "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" mockumentary featuring the book's so-called author Newt Scamander.
"We were sitting around wondering what else we could do in [the wizarding world], and [producer] Lionel Wigram, who is the person I first brought the first [Potter] book to, thought about maybe doing a documentary about Newt" Heyman told SlashFilm. "That idea was floated to Jo, and she responded to doing a film about [that character]."
It has been widely assumed that "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" would be the first film in a trilogy, according to Hypable, but Heyman admitted that he had not looked past the first film.
"We've talked about making a couple, but with all these things - and this may be a failing of mine - I don't look at them as franchises; I look at them as films" the producer explained. "We want to make each film as good as we can because if you don't, you won't have a second film or a third."
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" stars Academy Award-winner Eddie Redmayne, who desperately wanted to be in the "Harry Potter" films growing up, as HNGN previously reported.
"For years I was always like, in the 'Harry Potter' films, there was a whole ginger family, and I never got an audition. And I was like, come on, it's outrageous!" he explained. "So I was desperate. Every actor in England was in the Harry Potter films, but I never got the call. Now I'm having my moment."
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" opens on Nov. 18, 2016.
