After the unsurprising news that the Fantastic Beasts franchise is seemingly over after three films, Dumbledore himself, Jude Law, has offered up a very possible explanation. While the spinoff film finds itself in an indefinite limbo, Warner Bros. is hard at work finding their new young wizards for the upcoming Harry Potter reboot for HBO. According to Law, who is currently set to lead his own Star Wars show for Disney+, Fantastic Beasts is now done for due to WB’s commitment to the aforementioned television series.
During an interview with Variety, Law was asked about the future of the Fantastic Beasts franchise after Eddie Redmayne revealed The Secrets of Dumbledore was the last time audiences would see his character, Newt Scamander. The disappointing update (for some at least) is now backed up by the Dumbledore actor, who reveals that he has not heard anything about future installments. He joined Fantastic Beasts in the second film, subtitled The Crimes of Grindelwald, and was set to be a vital part of the franchise moving forward. However, it seems a lid has been tightly placed on more sequels. Law explains how he thinks the Harry Potter TV show is to blame:
“I know it’s certainly on hold. My guess would be that, now that they’re doing Harry Potter as a TV show, they’ll probably put their energy into that. I certainly haven’t heard that there’s anything on the horizon.”
While Fantastic Beasts is seemingly put on ice for the immediate future, HBO’s Harry Potter is currently looking to cast its main stars. The upcoming reboot will be completely separate from the record-breaking and beloved film series starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Glint. Although they will surely share similarities (the original theme was used to announce the TV show for crying out loud), it seems WB is intent on capitalizing on the Harry Potter IP, no matter how unnecessary it may seem. Well, at least the show has a good chance of being better received than the Fantastic Beasts films.
Fantastic Beasts Caused its Own Demise
Yes, Law has a point when it comes to the current state of the Harry Potter franchise as a whole. Although the Universal Studios theme park is still banking on the original film series, and are introducing an entirely new area inspired by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Warner Bros. seems solely focused on the HBO project. Of course, audiences will always have the amazing original films to fall back on, but Fantastic Beasts more than likely spelled its own demise. Unlike Harry Potter, the Eddie Redmayne-led film trilogy had a harder time engaging the loyal fanbase.
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Everything We Know About the Harry Potter TV Series So Far
Devoted fans of the Harry Potter franchise are both eager and apprehensive to see what the HBO TV series will offer in its buzzed-about adaptation.
In 2016, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them made over $800 million worldwide at the box office and was certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. For many, it was a welcome surprise as it was mostly an entirely new story, not based on a specific Harry Potter book. However, the film series quickly struggled to find its footing as the Johnny Depp controversy swirled before and after the sequel Crimes of Grindelwald, which was not meant with as much praise as the first film. The Secrets of Dumbledore failed to course correct in 2022, and did not seem to try to finish the storyline on its own terms. For whatever reason, WB was trying to make Fantastic Beasts (and its lengthy labels) the same length as the eight-part Harry Potter series.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
- Release Date
- April 15, 2022
- Runtime
- 142 minutes
