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Wizard’s Council: On The Fantastic Beasts Script Publishing

By W&W Staff

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Our Wizard’s Council convenes to consider the question of the hour: Why no excitement on the Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them script being published?

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Welcome to the Wizard’s Council. Back in olden days, before the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy in 1692, the Wizarding world was governed by the Wizard’s Council. This was the longest serving ruling body over the Wizarding World in history, and though it was disbanded in 1707 with the founding of the Ministry of Magic, it was still considering one of the wisest and august bodies to ever rule the UK and Irish Wizarding Worlds. (Sadly, the same cannot be said for the Ministry, which seems to only be as good as it’s current Minister.) Here at Wizards and Whatnot, we come together once again as this august body to think deeply on the issues of our time.

Philosophical Question of the Hour: With Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them following the example of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and publishing the script as a book, one would think that fans would be excited to buy the first story set in the Potterverse written by Rowling herself since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. And yet not a peep. Meanwhile, Cursed Child, which wasn’t written by Rowling, set off internet hysterics and is a best seller. Why?

DAN: I think the answer is simple: fans are more interested in the Harry Potter series than they are in J.K. Rowling. And I say this knowing that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is technically an extension of the Harry Potter series. No matter: it doesn’t star Harry Potter. As much of a celebrity as Rowling has become, it’s Harry’s story that first hooked fans, not Rowling’s considerable gifts in telling it. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child continues that story. Fantastic Beasts doesn’t.

That doesn’t mean Fantastic Beasts can’t go on to become a phenomenon in its own right—with any luck, it’ll snare imaginations as effectively as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone did when it was first published back in the ‘90s. But at this point, it’s still an unknown commodity. A story with some Harry Potter elements can’t compete with the continuation of the original Harry Potter story.

Exclusivity plays a part, too. Once Fantastic Beasts hits theaters, everyone will be able to see it. What need will there be to own a copy of the script when the movie is playing at a theater near you? On the other hand, not everyone will be able to see Cursed Child. For those unable to travel to London (or to catch the play on tour, assuming that happens), a copy of the script may be as close as they’ll ever get.

Personally, I plan to buy the Cursed Child script, but I don’t have much interest in the Fantastic Beasts script. I’d rather see it played out on the big screen with candy and popcorn, like God and AMC intended.

KELLY: I completely agree with, Dan, especially with his point about exclusivity. I live in England and will still find it difficult to see the play since don’t live in London, so I am much more excited to buy the Cursed Child script than the Fantastic Beasts script since I won’t have any issue seeing the film (multiple times).

But, the main reason I’m not overly excited is simple – it’s not a novel. I am very apprehensive of how a screenplay will compare to a novel and how much of Rowling’s “magic” will be lost since the world doesn’t need to be described in as much detail. The scripts will be more about the dialogue, which I’m sure will be highly entertaining, interesting, and amazing, but to me, my favorite part of the Harry Potter series is getting completely lost in the world that Rowling describes in her novels. To be completely honest, I am not overly excited about either script being published. Don’t get me wrong, I get excited about anything remotely related to the Potterverse, but let’s just say I don’t want to get my hopes up.

Although I am more excited to read the Cursed Child script than I am to read the Fantastic Beasts script, I am still more excited to see the Fantastic Beasts movie than I am to read the Cursed Child script. I have very high hopes for the film and hope we all will love it as much as the Harry Potter series (gasp!).

MARNIFER: Dan basically nailed it: Cursed Child has the continuing saga of characters who are already beloved to us, where Fantastic Beasts is populated by folks we’ve never met before. No matter how much we may come to love Newt, Queenie, and Porpentina, there just isn’t the same emotional investment. As with any great series, we want to know what happens to our core group of players 10, 20, or 30 years down the line.

There’s also the fact that there’s much more mystery and secrecy surrounding the Cursed Child plot. We know the play will focus on Harry’s son Albus in particular, but the actual goings-on of the story and what might happen are brilliantly vague. It’s shrewd marketing to present an already salivating audience with open-ended phrases like “past and present fuse ominously” and “darkness comes from unexpected places.”

Fantastic Beasts, on the other hand, has given us plenty of information about what the story will entail, up to and including the movie’s trailer. As a film, it must court its audience harder than the play — it has to tell and show you more in order to compete for attention just by the nature of the medium. It also goes back to what Dan said about exclusivity. Even though there’s only one Potterverse-based movie in theaters this November, that’s still a multitude of theaters worldwide, and soon after you’ll be able to own it on DVD. For now the play can only be seen in a single location, for a limited time, and then poof!

Furthermore, the script version of a film appeals to a much smaller demographic than that of a play. There’s nowhere to go, imagination-wise, with the script of a movie that’s already been filmed. It’s mostly just other film nerds like me who want to see the (often dry) details of the screenplay. When you read a play you can conjure your own imagery, construct the sets in your mind, think about the staging or wardrobe. You could even put on your own performance. (After paying the proper royalties, of course!) When you read a movie script, you can’t help but to replay that movie as it already exists.

AYESHA: I think the appeal of Cursed Child is twofold. It’s a chance to spend more time with those iconic characters and it’s also a chance to surpass the storytelling in the Harry Potter films. Important details were traded for dramatic visuals for the films and the characters on screen were largely independent from the ones created by Rowling. Cursed Child has many advantages: A two-part play will have a longer running-time than the average movie, a fresh start with casting allows them to mold the characters uniquely for the play, and making Albus Potter the protagonist mimics the excitement invoked by the original series. It gives fans hope that the play might be everything that the films were not.

There’s also a huge difference between a story written to be filmed and a story written to be staged. As Kelly pointed out, both scripts will be largely dialogue, but Fantastic Beasts will be relying on visuals to tell half their story with CGI beasts abound. In Cursed Child, more focus will be on the actors themselves, so the characterization has to help advance the plot. People already love Harry and co., so interest in their portrayal hypes up the release. As for Fantastic Beasts, it may be difficult for people to get excited about reading something meant to be seen.

I think we’re all in agreement with Dan on exclusivity and unfamiliarity. Publishing both scripts does not make both projects equally accessible. A lot of people will get to see Fantastic Beasts in theatres. Most may never be able to go see the West End play. So with easy access to the movie and no firm idea of whether the Fantastic Beasts characters will be as loved as the ones from the Harry Potter books, there’s little incentive to buy the film script just yet.

The Cursed Child script could be a fun future read for me. Until then, there’s plenty of material exploring Harry’s post-war life for me to muse on, official or not. Regardless, I’m looking forward to seeing how both productions turn out!

KATIE: I think everyone’s pinned it down already: For those of us who can’t see Cursed Child, we’ll still be able to familiarize ourselves with the story; Fantastic Beasts, meanwhile, is more accessible in its intended format. While plays are meant to be seen as much as movies are, we’ve become more accustomed to reading plays than film scripts—it’s how many of us have studied Shakespeare and theater in general, so we’re used to it. Plays rely on visuals to convey different interpretations, but you get the gist of the thing within the dialogue alone.

As pointed out by a few of my co-writers, the buzz around Cursed Child is more nostalgic than the new universe Newt Scamander will inhabit. I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that the nearest Barnes & Noble is hosting a series of release parties for the Cursed Child script, and that sense of community is half the fun. I certainly plan to take the hour-long trip not just to pick up my copy, but to participate in that camaraderie the likes of which I haven’t seen since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows dropped in 2007. Sure, the films made a similar smash during their midnight screenings, but for me and plenty of other fans, the book releases are where it’s at, and we can experience that same magic again with Cursed Child.

I’m excited to see Newt hit the big screen and the new journey to begin, but the mystery of Cursed Child intrigues me and I’m just relieved that I’ll be privy to the story, even if I can’t see it live.

RYAN: I agree with everyone’s opinions about the script of Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts. There is just more appeal to the Cursed Child script. It has two very strong influences in its favor, it continues on Harry’s story and not everyone can head to London for the play.

Like Dan said, we’re here for Harry Potter. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m super excited for Fantastic Beasts. I wasn’t at first, to be honest. It didn’t tickle my fancy until I started working for Wizards and Whatnot and started researching it. Here’s the beauty of Fantastic Beasts though. We don’t have a book to nitpick the movie to death about, which is a refreshing thought. With Cursed Child, my attention peaked as soon as I got word about it. I remember the frenzy about whether it was play script or the eighth book to the series. But amidst all the chaos and scrambling for information, there was rejoice that Harry’s story was continuing. While Fantastic Beasts is before Harry Potter’s time, Newt’s story has my attention none the less. The wait and excitement for both are equally as strong.

To me, the Cursed Child play script is just more practical. Why read a script of a movie that will be playing in your nearest theater? And as pointed out by my co-workers, there’s just no immersion to a movie script, it’s more focusing on the actors and not the movie. With the play script, we can once more dive into Harry’s story and world. This a huge plus if you can’t catch the play or the tour(if it happens).

I will definitely will be picking up a copy of the Cursed Child script when it releases. As for Fantastic Beasts, I’ll just stick to the multiple theater trips and the movie when it releases to blu-ray.

Next: Harry Potter and the Order of Archetypes: Dolores Umbridge, the Shadow

Our Wizard’s Council meets every other week, unless there is an emergency session. Check out our other entries here.

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