It hasn't been turned back into Hogwarts, but Leavesden Studios is now officially a wizarding world once again. Shooting on the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is underway, with director David Yates (every Potter since The Order Of The Phoenix) conducting the magic as before. Usual alumni David Heyman, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram are producing, as is JK Rowling, who also wrote the screenplay.
As you probably already know, Eddie Redmayne has nabbed the lead as Newt Scamander, the magizoologist on a mission to document the magical world's peculiar creatures. On a trip to New York, he meets several characters, including Colin Farrell's wizard Graves.
Other encounters along the way will include Katherine Waterston as Tina; Alison Sudol as Tina’s sister, Queenie; Dan Fogler as Jacob; Ezra Miller as Credence; Samantha Morton as Mary Lou; Jenn Murray as Chastity; and young newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove as Modesty. Not bad for a film that has its humble origins in a slim tie-in volume for Comic Relief.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them currently has a worldwide release date - including 3D and IMAX versions - of November 18, 2016. It'll be Yates' second major film released next year: his Tarzan, starring Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie, arrives on July 8.