J.K. Rowling to pen Harry Potter spin-off film

[Thorn Wilde]

The BBC reports that J.K. Rowling is going to write a screenplay for a film version of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them detailing the adventures of its fictional author, Newt Scamander.

 

 

"It all started when Warner Bros came to me with the suggestion of turning Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them into a film," said Rowling.

 

"I thought it was a fun idea, but the idea of seeing Newt Scamander, the supposed author of Fantastic Beasts, realised by another writer was difficult.

 

"Having lived for so long in my fictional universe, I feel very protective of it and I already knew a lot about Newt. As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favourite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood.

 

She went on: "As I considered Warners' proposal, an idea took shape that I couldn't dislodge. That is how I ended up pitching my own idea for a film to Warner Bros.

 

"Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for 17 years, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.

 

"The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt's story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry's gets underway."

 

Rowling added: "I always said that I would only revisit the wizarding world if I had an idea that I was really excited about and this is it."

 

Are we excited??

Edited September 12, 2013 by Thorn Wilde

[A.J.]

I'll be honest, I have a feeling this is going to suck.  I'll still watch it of course, but I'm sure I'll come out of the theatre bitching about it.  It will be hard to rekindle the magic of Harry Potter.

[Slytherin]

The BBC reports that J.K. Rowling is going to write a screenplay for a film version of the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them detailing the adventures of its fictional author, Newt Scamander.

 

 

Are we excited??

Yes we are

[advocatus diaboli]

I'm very excited. I'm actually excited for the Star Wars spin-offs as well. It's like what Marvel is doing, expanding and enriching their universe.

 

As long as it's done well, nothing but good can come out of it.

[Thorn Wilde]

I can't imagine how this particular film can be done anything but well when Rowling is writing the screenplay herself, to be honest. I believe it will be brilliant.

[Celethiel]

should it be rekindled? I mean I tend to watch something for it's entertainment value over anything else.... to which that usually means i don't complain about the same things my friends will complain about, and many times I won't complain about something at all, case and point being: Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif, to which they complained it was a brain dead movie for testoterone filled male geek teens.... to me it was just generally amusing. They also didn't like G.I. Joe the rise of Cobra, because to them it was filled with no surprises and very poorly written... We both Liked Avatar though

It is a side story thusly it's not really rekindling Harry Potter as expanding on the Universe... or at least to me... Kind of like the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings.

 

I'll be honest, I have a feeling this is going to suck.  I'll still watch it of course, but I'm sure I'll come out of the theatre bitching about it.  It will be hard to rekindle the magic of Harry Potter.

 

I'll be honest, I have a feeling this is going to suck.  I'll still watch it of course, but I'm sure I'll come out of the theatre bitching about it.  It will be hard to rekindle the magic of Harry Potter.

[JamesSavik]

I knew that pot of gold was irresistible. 

 

Perhaps Harry and Ron's kids adventures at the Warted Hogg?

Edited September 12, 2013 by jamessavik

[advocatus diaboli]

james, the spin-off is of Newt Scamander (sp?) that takes place 70 years before the events of Harry Potter. As well, it is based (or at least starts) in New York City. This way it's able to include recognizable characters (Dumbledore) but be it's own story.

[Andy78]

Methinks this should have featured in our Pandora's Box anthology.

[comicfan]

Well everything she does is immediately held up to the Harry Potter ruler. At least here she can visit the world but not have to deal with Harry at all.

[Arpeggio]

[Sasha Distan]

well after the general reception of The Casual Vacancy, it sort of looks like she's made her bed and now she's got to lie in it. 

[Thorn Wilde]

well after the general reception of The Casual Vacancy, it sort of looks like she's made her bed and now she's got to lie in it. 

 

The Casual Vacancy did well enough that the BBC are making a TV-series out of it...

[advocatus diaboli]

The Casual Vacancy did well enough that the BBC are making a TV-series out of it...

Now I wonder, are they making a TV series out of it because it's good or because of who wrote it?

[Sasha Distan]

The Casual Vacancy did well enough that the BBC are making a TV-series out of it...

 

and people will watch it for the same reason they read it. because her name is attached....

 

also, the BBC has put out a lot of awful crap lately.

[hh5]

its good to have the orig author ... I hate spin offs by other authors .. never does justice to the characters

[Ieshwar]

well after the general reception of The Casual Vacancy, it sort of looks like she's made her bed and now she's got to lie in it. 

Far from it. She already has another book published, The Cuckoo's Calling, under another pen name (Robert Galbraith). Believe it or not, when written by 'Robert Galbraith' and not the Harry Potter author, the book was critically well received. 

 

To those saying that it's about the money, we are talking about the lady who was richer than the Queen at one point. If she really was after the money, she wouldn't have donated so much to the charity. And by the way, Fantastic Beasts and Where to find Them was written for Comic Relief, which is for charity purposes. 

 

Am I excited about it? Hell yeah! More HP world bliss for me! *giddy with joy*

[advocatus diaboli]

Far from it. She already has another book published, The Cuckoo's Calling, under another pen name (Robert Galbraith). Believe it or not, when written by 'Robert Galbraith' and not the Harry Potter author, the book was critically well received. 

 

This. She's legitimately a good writer.

[thebrinkoftime]

I used to take Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and go out into the woods and search for all the creatures I thought might be likely to be in my area. The other one was great too, the Quidditch one. I loved how she had the characters scribble notes and drawings in them.

 

Even though she was enormously talented from the beginning, J.K. Rowling really showed a propensity to grow as a writer as well throughout the series.

 

I always get a little cranky when people suggested she needed an editor who wouldn't stand for her verboseness as the books got huge. Rowling knew why her books became such a phenomenon -- yes, Harry's struggle was decently compelling, but I maintain to this day that Harry was intentionally not the most appealing character in the books by the author's intent. Rowling's true talent, if you ask me, was everything that surrounded Harry. People call it creating a fictional world, and I suppose that's accurate enough, but I like to think of it as an environment. Every time the twins showed up, my brain went, "Oooh! New wizarding pranks!" Every time a new location would pop up, my brain went, "Oooh! A wizarding hospital!" or "Oooh! A wizarding pub!" Every time a new creature or clever little aside slinked its way between the lines, there was a delightful little giggle that went off in my mind.

 

I think people underestimate how hard it is to do that. You don't just go into your brain wardrobe and pull out charming ideas and details as if they were nothing, it takes a really meticulous and detail-oriented mind to keep that environment as cohesive and enthralling as Rowling managed to do. Yes, I was somewhat involved in Harry and his friend's plights and worries, but I was more tickled by the next creature, spell, character or place he would encounter than anything else. So when the books ballooned to an enormous size, I was impressed that it didn't mean that they were just endless, badly-edited internal thoughts of the main characters and droll description, but those pages were filled to the brim with the environment she had so successfully cultivated as her own.

 

I didn't go to the books to escape either. I don't like it when people imply that I read fantasy to escape from the world. Maybe you do, and that's fine, but for me, that's nonsense. I read fantasy to confront my demons. I like to see other people's ideas of what is considered good, whether that be addlepated balding fathers with an inclination toward nerdish glee about everyday things, or a creature with too little self-awareness whose bad ideas for helping other people end up nearly getting them killed. I find it comforting to nod at the things I agree with, tilt my head and accept the things I don't, and cover my mouth with a shocked gasp at the things I really didn't expect the author to confirm as "good." That's my ultimate motive for reading fantasy. I like how it stretches out my mind, because anything goes in fantasy and I can't visit all the countries in the world and get used to the incredibly different ways people think, but when I encounter similar challenges in fantasy, it is a joy if the author can provide the right context for it.

 

A lot of modern fantasy is ponderous and tedious to read. I feel many authors believe that super morally-conflicted characters who drone endlessly in bleak adventures will make me think, "By God! The human condition! It is art." But I often end up thinking, "By God! This is like some bitchy argument between roleplayers about whether a saving throw could really protect from a poisonous dagger. This sucks."

 

That's why I really appreciated what Rowling did. She didn't shirk away from confronting all sorts of nasty, god-forsaken things that Harry and his poor friends had to put up with, but it was all in a really fun, warm, welcoming environment that asked you to enjoy all the hardships, not to endure it and then appreciate it from a distance as some marvelous modern literature angst bomb.

 

I'm still most impressed with Order of the Phoenix. Harry was such a complete arsehole for the majority of that book, but that's okay, because sometimes people go through periods like that and Umbridge, oh my god, Umbridge, to me was far, far more awful and evil than anything Voldemort could ever represent, she was pretty much the ultimate example of authority gone horribly wrong. So this book had this narrative device where a grumpy and unruly teenager was being abused by somebody who was considered to be a paragon of virtue by the wider society and it was just infuriating to read. But! There was always that wonderful, lovely, charming, comfy environment Rowling had soaked her world in. So it was a fun and amusing type of indignation to experience. That environment always saved the books from becoming dour little morality tales for the benefit of the deluded adults who write them. It is partially somewhat thanks to Rowling that I continue to see life as an endless array of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and not as a series of dementors.

 

Growing up with Harry Potter (I read the first book when I was 8 years old and followed them as they were published, and they always came out near my birthday, one time exactly on my birthday!) I grew to appreciate Rowling a lot. I felt smothered in well-meaning literature that I felt was trying to say, "Look at me! Aren't I wise? Aren't I getting through to you, your poor lost child? Have you seen the light yet? Come, come, it's over here!" Whereas Rowling's books were a lovely contrast, they said, "Relax, things may be gruesome now, but don't worry. Things are going to turn out all right, you'll see. Love is the answer, have a cookie and let's snuggle up to the fire until it all rolls over."

 

That's why I find Rowling to be a remarkable author and don't think it's a mistake or fluke at all that her books caught on like they did. That was some powerfully good writing.

Edited September 16, 2013 by thebrinkoftime

[advocatus diaboli]

[text I agree with]

This. This. This.

[hh5]

making this next series would be a good test if she is a good writer ... but she won't have the readers to give feedback about how they like the story

 

I think this is a writer to screenplay to production scenario ... the judgement of the final product ... is a long way away 

 

the good question is can the public be understanding in this short time frame ... if they gave up on the endeavour should the writer or the studio or the backers decided to kill the project? would they be ok if the reason was that they didn't want to disappoint the public ... really the fans?

 

if that were the reason i would feel fine

 

another good question what if the story was ready say eight years from now ... will there be people willing to watch this series when the story is ready so late than early?

 

i suppose if fans don't die out and hp can be classically loved n accepted for years to come ... I suspect new stories can come out any time they can come out

 

ie: if star trek movie one, movie five, nemesis, in the darkness ... were to be story dismissed ... for a much better story ...  sure I would be willing to wait

sure I be embarrassed about the studios or the big network being so big headed in giving roddenberry a problem in launching another series

 

but nowadays ... if the networks or syfy or independent companies are willing to produce another star trek series under jj abrams .... would you watch it?

or would u watch captain worf or captain data or captain sulu?

 

I go for a quality story told every time ... so if all is in agreement ... then the legacy of the hp world is in good hands rather than milking the public for money

ie: universal hp ... they had days were they could not deliver quality entertainment ... but only prove their service is to collect the money

does jk rowling care ... nope when she sees a big fat royality check

[Bill W]

I'll reserve my judgment and enthusiasm until I see the finished project.  These things can be highly risky and could just as easily be a flop as well as a success. . 

[Celethiel]

I want that book Brink

and btw... I've always wondered about North America...

after all we're hardly talked about.... actually to my knowledge not at all...

it mentions 3 Schools one in Russia, one in... was it France, and one in Egland... never mentions the Americans... or the Asians... i wanna know

[Thorn Wilde]

I want that book Brink

and btw... I've always wondered about North America...

after all we're hardly talked about.... actually to my knowledge not at all...

it mentions 3 Schools one in Russia, one in... was it France, and one in Egland... never mentions the Americans... or the Asians... i wanna know

 

Actually, America is mentioned in The Goblet of Fire. There's a tent at the Quidditch World Cup belonging to a group of witches from Salem (of course). Who knows, maybe they have a school there? She's never gone into it because it's never been relevant. But I'm sure they exist.

[advocatus diaboli]

I want that book Brink

 

I had it, and the Quidditch one. They were fantastic.