By: Emma Zaremba
Features Assignment Editor
Life just isn’t the same without a Harry Potter book or movie release. For all those suffering, suffer no more. J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers announced the release of a new “Potter-like” film franchise.
According to Entertainment Weekly, the new films will be based off of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry textbook “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and the book’s fictitious author, Newt Scamander. When Rowling released this book in 2001, she also released a companion book titled “Quidditch Throughout the Ages.”
This should be a wonderful experience for Harry Potter fans. Once again, they will be reunited with the beloved wizarding world they came to know so well.
I was thrilled to hear this news. I often wondered whether Rowling would ever create something related to Harry Potter again. The series is more than just a fantasy world to those who grew up with it. It is a lifestyle. A large part of our generation lived and breathed Harry Potter, and I’m sure many fans are dying for Rowling to produce a little bit more.
There are always those people who claim adding more to a multi-million dollar franchise will end up ruining a good thing, but I don’t think Rowling could. In fact, I don’t think she would let it happen. Harry Potter is her legacy, and this new series should excite her fans as well as draw in new ones.
Think about it. She wrote seven extremely successful books and guided eight hit films without losing her fan base. I think this woman knows what she’s doing.
Although these films won’t add to the “Harry Potter” storyline, they are set in the same wizarding world. The plot takes place in New York, making it the first Potter-inspired film to occur the United States, set 70 years before Harry Potter was born.
Potter fans around the globe will make an effort to see these films. I know I will. The fact that it has anything to do with Harry Potter is enough for me, and I assume fans from all around will feel the same.
Newt Scamander is briefly mentioned in the first Potter book, “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” as a highly esteemed former headmaster. He was famous for spending almost a decade writing “Fantastic Beasts” and traveling around the world to gain insight on the most fascinating creatures throughout the wizarding world.
Social media has been buzzing about the release of this news. Not only have major news sites picked it up, but bloggers and other social media outlets are also firing out information about the big J.K. Rowling reveal. The immense amount of discussion about the films is already enough to prove that they will be a major success.
Who knows, maybe the demand of these films will inspire Rowling to write a prequel or sequel to “Harry Potter.” Pottermore-the interactive version of the books- became a success after the series ended, but clearly it wasn’t enough. This fresh franchise gives us something new to look forward to.
So keep a close eye on any more insight to the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” series, Potter fans. Rowling won’t let us down.
zarembek11@bonaventure.edu
