J.K. Rowling has teased it, director David Yates has all but confirmed his desire to return at the helm and sure enough, Warner Bros. has now officially announced a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them sequel for release on November 16, 2018.
News comes only three months before the arrival of the first film, where Rowling made her screenwriting debut. She’ll return to pen the script for Fantastic Beasts 2, moulding a story that delves into “an increasingly dark time for the wizarding world, where Newt and the story’s other heroes have to decide on their allegiances.” David Yates will also continue his tenure in the Harry Potter universe, adding Warner’s magical sequel to a directing résumé that already boasts the latter four Potter films and this year’s Fantastic Beasts.
THR reports that David Heyman, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram. Neil Blair, Rick Senat and Danny Cohen will all act as executive producers.
Though word of a Fantastic Beasts trilogy has been in the pipeline for some time – with each new installment releasing across 2018 and 2020 – this news is a resounding vote of confidence from Warner Bros., one that could potentially be traced back to the movie’s grand showing at San Diego Comic-Con. It was here that the studio premiered a new look at those Fantastic Beasts on a rampage across New York City, leaving the likes of Gemma Chan, Carmen Ejogo, Jon Voight, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell and Ron Perlman to carry out a clean-up job the likes of which the Big Apple has never seen.
Eddie Redmayne headlines that cast as wizarding prodigy Newt Scamander when Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens on November 18. It’ll be followed up by a direct sequel on November 16, 2018.