The Fantastic Beasts franchise was originally envisioned as a 5-movie saga, but David Yates now casts doubt on the Harry Potter spinoff’s future.
Harry Potter veteran director David Yates, who also directed all the Fantastic Beasts movies, casts doubt on the spinoff saga’s future. Keen to capitalize on the enduring love of the Harry Potter franchise, Warner Bros. released Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in 2016. The success of the spinoff led to two sequels, the most recent of which hit theaters last year, neither of which were particularly well-received.
Now, following the disappointing Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore box office, Yates reveals in a recent interview with the Inside Total Film podcast (via GamesRadar) that the franchise is “parked“. While there was originally a plan to tell Newt Scamander’s story across five movies, it doesn’t sound like this is still on the cards. Check out Yates’ full comment below:
“With Beasts, it’s all just parked. We made those three movies, the last one through a pandemic, and it was enormous fun but it was tough. We were actually filming when there wasn’t a vaccine. Thankfully, no one got sick, but we did have the most detailed protocols in place.
“We’re all so proud of [Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore] and when it went out into the world, we just needed to sort of stop and pause, and take it easy. The idea that there were going to be five films was a surprise to most of us. [J.K. Rowling] just mentioned it spontaneously, at a press screening once. No one had told us there were going to be five, we’d committed to the first one.
“I’m sure at some point, we’ll be back. But yeah, I haven’t spoken to Jo, I haven’t spoken to [producer] David Heyman, I haven’t spoken to Warner Bros; we’re just taking a pause. It’s quite nice.”
Harry Potter Doesn’t Need More Fantastic Beasts Movies
The eight Harry Potter films remain a major success story for Warner Bros., with essentially the entire saga consistently delivering in terms of box office and reviews. It was no surprise, then, that the studio collaborated with controversial author J.K. Rowling to adapt her spinoff novel, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. While the first movie fared well critically and commercially, the later installments saw diminishing returns.
Holding the record as the lowest-rated Harry Potter universe movie on Rotten Tomatoes at 36%, 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald marked the first time the Wizarding World franchise faltered. The sequel’s story didn’t hold up, and the movie was marred by the controversy surrounding the personal life of Grindelwald actor Johnny Depp. While the third film was a marginal improvement, it largely cemented that the franchise didn’t have the same magic or momentum as Harry Potter proper.
The Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore ending leaves some story threads dangling, but it ties up enough loose ends to be considered a not-unsatisfying franchise finale. Unfortunately, despite some strong performances throughout, a major problem facing the spinoff franchise is that it just felt better suited to being a one-off adventure, with the story not feeling epic enough to justify three movies, let alone five. With a Harry Potter reboot TV show on the way, it doesn’t sound like audiences should expect any more Fantastic Beasts adventures.
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Source: Inside Total Film (via GamesRadar)
