J.Ok. Rowling‘s Unbelievable Beasts franchise is formally on ice. In the course of the podcast Inside Complete Movie, franchise director David Yates stated that the Harry Potter spin-off has been “parked” in the intervening time.
Yates has directed each movie set within the Harry Potter universe since 2007’s Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. On the podcast, Yates sang the praised the latest providing within the three-film franchise—2022’s Unbelievable Beasts: The Secrets and techniques of Dumbledore—however confirmed that there are not any present plans to maneuver ahead with the sequence. “We’re all so pleased with [The Secrets of Dumbledore], and when it went out into the world, we simply wanted to kind of cease and pause and take it simple,” he stated.
Filming Unbelievable Beasts 3 was notably tough because of the pandemic, stated Yates. And now, the sequence is taking an indefinite hiatus. “With Beasts, it’s all simply parked,” he stated. “We made these three motion pictures, we made the final one by means of a pandemic, and it was huge enjoyable, but it surely was robust. We had been truly filming when there wasn’t a vaccine. Thank goodness nobody bought sick, however we did have essentially the most detailed protocols in place.”
The franchise has suffered unhealthy critiques and controversy due, partly, to 2 of its stars: Johnny Depp and Ezra Miller. Depp, who performed Grindelwald within the first two Unbelievable Beast movies, was changed by Mads Mikkelsen within the third movie after he was publicly {accused} by ex-wife Amber Heard of home abuse. (Depp has denied the claims, and gained a defamation case in opposition to Heard in December 2022.) Miller, who starred in all three movies as Aurelius Dumbledore, was arrested a number of instances in 2022 and pled responsible to illegal trespassing. (Miller has since sought remedy for “advanced psychological well being points.”) On prime of that, Harry Potter scribe Rowling, who wrote the primary two Unbelievable Beasts movies and has a co-writing credit score on the third, has been extensively criticized for her transphobic remarks.
In keeping with Yates, Rowling wished the franchise to have 5 movies, an concept he was by no means completely on board with. “The concept that there have been going to be 5 [Fantastic Beasts] movies was a complete shock to most of us,” the director stated. “Jo simply talked about it spontaneously, at a press screening as soon as. We had been presenting some clips of FB1 [Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]. We’d all signed up for FB1, very enthusiastically. And Jo, bless her, got here on … and Jo stated, ‘Oh, by the way in which, there’s 5 of them.’ And all of us checked out one another as a result of nobody had instructed us there have been going to be 5. We’d kind of dedicated to this one. In order that was the primary we’d heard of it.”
Yates stated he hasn’t spoken with Rowling, franchise producer David Heyman, or Warner Bros concerning the franchise lately. “We’re simply taking a pause,” he stated. “And it’s fairly good.” However whereas there are not any quick plans to return to the franchise, Yates is cautiously optimistic that there can be extra Unbelievable Beasts movies sooner or later. “I’m positive sooner or later we could be again,” he stated. “Who can inform?”
Whereas Unbelievable Beasts could also be on pause, the Harry Potter cinematic universe continues to be increasing. Warner Bros. discovery confirmed in September {that a} Max Unique tv sequence primarily based on all seven Harry Potter books written by Rowling is coming to the streaming platform within the coming years. “This new Max Unique sequence will dive deep into every of the enduring books that followers have continued to get pleasure from for all of those years,” stated HBO and Max head honcho Casey Bloys. The tv sequence is anticipated to hit the streaming platform in 2025 or 2026, and can allegedly run for “ten consecutive years.” So, whereas Unbelievable Beasts could also be no extra, there’s loads of Harry Potter content material in retailer within the not too distant future.
