Fantastic Beasts 3 has had a bumpy journey to the screen, having been pushed back a year even before the COVID-19 crisis. Star Eddie Redmayne is taking a “glass half full” approach to the delays, though, as he believes that the hold-off on production starting has helped the filmmakers and the cast make the movie even better.
While speaking with CinemaBlend to promote his new Netflix pic, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Redmayne revealed how late in the day the decision was made to halt shooting back in March and explained that himself and director David Yates agreed to use the time to work on certain aspects of the movie, including the visual effects, saying:
“We were meant to start – we’d done a pre-shoot day just before we went into lockdown here. We’d shot on a Friday night, and then on the Sunday night, we’d meant to start shooting proper on Monday, and we got a call on that Sunday night saying we’re not doing it. Then we had this six-month period and, absolutely, the creatives – certainly David Yates and [myself] – were talking about using that time. Whether it was in the visual effects or working on things. I think it’s really important. You’re always trying to make the best work possible, so I feel like it has been helpful in some ways.”
Something we’ve heard a lot about from productions that have been delayed due to the pandemic is that writers have used the extra time to make sure their scripts are as good as possible. It’s unclear if this is the case with FB3, though, as it’s known that the screenplay was heavily rewritten beforehand anyway. Harry Potter screenwriter Steve Kloves was brought aboard to work with J.K. Rowling for this one, perhaps following criticism of the storytelling in the first two installments.
Warner Bros. had put a lot of effort into making sure this Fantastic Beasts was the best one yet, then, even before the six-month delay, so the news that Yates has been working on the film’s visuals during lockdown is another welcome sign that this one could be a massive improvement on what’s come before. With shooting having at last begun this week, it looks like Fantastic Beasts 3 could be on target to hit its scheduled release date of November 12th, 2021.