Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them already boasts one big name from the original franchise: creator J.K. Rowling is writing the script for what Warner Bros. is hoping will be a new trilogy. The studio now appears to be reaching out to someone else who has a little experience in the wizarding world, director David Yates.
According to Variety, Yates is in negotiations to handle at least the first instalment of the new series, which is very loosely based on Rowling's universe-expanding textbook about magical creatures, and set in the same world as Potter and pals. It will feature creatures and characters both new and familiar to Potter fans and, promises Rowling, will be "neither a prequel nor a sequel to the** Harry Potter** series, but an extension of the wizarding world" that takes place 70 years before Harry sets foot in Hogwarts. That puts the setting somewhere around 1921, when Magizoologist and credited author of the book Newt Scamander would have been about 24 according to in-world chronology.
“But Empire,” we hear you shout, “isn’t Yates a tad busy at the moment, making **Tarzan for the studio? Isn’t Fantastic Beasts already scheduled for release in November 2016?” You would be right on both counts, but Yates is shooting Tarzan now and appears quite ready to jump from that on to Fantastic Beasts next year. Given that he directed four Potters on the trot with barely a break, if anyone can handle those logistics, it's Yates.
And let’s face it – who else would Warners entrust besides a man who directed four of the Potter movies, including the final two? Now we’ll just have to wait and see if the deal falls into place. Agentio Negotiarti!