Come on, David Yates… give someone else a turn!
The director of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2 will return to the hit franchise for its very first spin-off, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which takes place in New York, decades prior to the story of the original blockbuster film series. The new film follows the adventures of Newt Scamander, who wrote one of Harry Potter’s textbooks called, well,. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, 70 years before the events of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.Â
Related: The Top 10 Things the Harry Potter Movies Left Out
Variety reports that Yates will direct Fantastic Beasts – the first film in a new trilogy – after he completes production on his new reboot of Tarzan, starring “True Blood’s” Alexander Skarsgard in the title role. Yates is the first name officially attached to the new Harry Potter spin-off, which is expected to show off monsters familiar to fans of the franchise in addition to all new magical beasties, and to feature all-new characters. Which makes sense, since half the cast of the previous Harry Potter movies wouldn’t even have been born by the time Fantastic Beasts takes place. The 20-something Newt Scamander has not yet been cast.
David Yates was the fourth director to tackle the Harry Potter movie series, after Christopher Columbus (who directed the first two films), Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell. Except for the upcoming Tarzan, the former TV director hasn’t seen any of his other film projects get off the ground since the Harry Potter movies made him one of the most sought-after directors in Hollywood. He was originally set to direct a feature film adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand (which is currently stuck in development hell), and briefly – and incorrectly – once said that he was going to direct a feature film reboot of the BBC series “Doctor Who.”
It’s a safe choice for Warner Bros., and it’s a VERY safe choice for David Yates, who now has yet another sure thing scheduled for release on November 18, 2016.
William Bibbiani is the editor of CraveOnline’s Film Channel and the host of The B-Movies Podcast and The Blue Movies Podcast. Follow him on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
