Why the fourth film might never see the light of day

Fantastic Beasts is a saga created by JK Rowling that expands the magical universe ofHarry Potter. Released in 2016, the first film, which features the adventures of magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) in 1920s New York, had met with some public success. The franchise then expanded with two other films: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018, and Dumbledore’s Secretsin 2022.

For a while, there was talk of releasing other films to create a big franchise. Fantastic Beasts. But, for now, the prequel toHarry Potter remains at the trilogy stage. Officially, director David Yates indicated that the saga was “on hiatus” to Total Film Magazine. The last episode was a critical and popular failure, the saga having suffered many controversies. First, the author of the franchise fell out of favor in the hearts of many fans because of her regular transphobic outings in the media. She continues to multiply controversies on the subject, so much so that some fans have decided to detach themselves from the various productions linked to the saga in order to not provide it with financial support.

But JK Rowling is not the only personality attached to the Fantastic Beasts to cause controversy. After losing his libel case against the Sun in London, a tabloid that accused him of being an “abusive husband”, Johnny Depp (Grindelwald, the main protagonist) was removed from the franchise and replaced in the last film by the Danish Mads Mikkelsen.

But he’s not the only actor in the saga who has had a run-in with the law: shortly before the release of the third episode, Ezra Miller was implicated in several cases, including assault, burglary, corruption of a minor and drunk driving. This has also tarnished the franchise’s already tarnished reputation.

These scandals put another nail in the coffin of a franchise that was already receiving mixed reviews from audiences. The axe fell when the third installment was released in 2022, which grossed just $407 million worldwide, the franchise’s lowest box office tally. And for now, Warner Bros. doesn’t seem to be bothered with a new installment of the Fantastic Beastssince priority is given to the serial remake ofHarry Pottereach season of which will be an adaptation of a volume from JK Rowling’s franchise. The first episodes are expected in 2026.

The synopsis: Norbert Dragonneau is a magicozoologist, that is to say he is a specialist in magical creatures. Due to his talents, he travels the world in search of knowledge but also to help those who encounter problems with magical creatures. Upon his arrival in New York, he must elucidate strange events in the city. In doing so, he comes into contact with a Muggle fascinated by magic. But a very dark reality seems to be at work in the United States. Grindelwald threatens…

This House of the Dragon Actor Could Have Starred in the Movie

Many years ago, when Warner Bros. was preparing to film the Fantastic Beasts saga, a spin-off of Harry Potter, many names jostled to play the lead role of Newt Scamander (better known in France as Norbert Dragonneau). Indeed, embodying the face of this new saga was a guarantee of perfect global exposure to explode a career with the general public. If the role finally fell to Eddie Redmayne (Danish Girl), several other names were mentioned.

For example, Nicholas Hoult, known for his roles in X-Men First Class and Mad Max Fury Road, was once considered a lead for casting directors. Rumors have also lent great interest to Matt Smith (The Crown, Dr Who) for the role of Norbert Dragonneau in Fantastic Beasts. The British actor, fresh from the role of the Eleventh Doctor in Dr Who, was indeed in high demand at the time. The information was never really made official by the actor himself, but if he had actually gotten the role, it would be a safe bet that he would never have been available to play the role of Daemon Targaryen in House of the Dragon, which began airing at the end of August 2022!