For a while there, the Fantastic Beasts vehicle was trundling along on its assigned path, with films arriving around two years apart. It looks like a spanner – or a wand – has been chucked into the works, as Deadline reports Warner Bros. is pushing back the shooting schedule for the third film, meaning it likely won't make a rumoured 2020 release.
Any number of theories could be flying around your head right about now: cast issues, script problems requiring rewrite, but apparently the reason is much more mundane. Turns out, given the tight deadline to deliver The Crimes Of Grindelwald, the production team simply hasn't had the time to begin what's known as "soft-prep" on the new entry, the very early work needed even before pre-production and then production can begin. The studio had hoped that current director David Yates and the rest of the department heads could kick off shooting in July, but it's more likely to be the autumn now – and the cast has been informed of the altered dates.
It's also, according to the trade site, because of a new attitude at Warners to allow big movies some time to come together instead of rushing to meet a specific release date. Which means we'll have to wait and see when Newt and the rest return to our screens.
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