Books to Read Before Their Fall Movie Releases
8. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (November 18th)
(Based on the book by Newt Scamander (J.K. Rowling))
What: If you want to know about Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), you won’t find anything in this book (although he did “write” it). Instead what you will find is a small encyclopedia of the magical creatures that inhabit the wizarding world and with notes written in the margins by Harry Potter and his friends. This book was published as a wizard book that muggles were permitted to read, alongside Quidditch through the Ages, because most of the proceeds from the sales were going to charity.
Why We’re Excited: Fantastic Beasts is the first film in the expanding Harry Potter universe. After eight movies and seven books, Harry’s world is is moving past the Hogwarts grounds and the few places we have come to know and love. Now this new film will take place in 1920’s New York City, around 60 years and over 3,000 miles from the events and locations in the original Harry Potter series. There are so many new things this film brings with it: a wizard school for Americans, words like no-maj (meaning muggle or non magical person), and intuitions like the Magical Congress of the United States (the American Ministry of Magic).
From the little we’ve seen in the trailers we are promised some pretty amazing period costumes and cute critters. J.K. Rowling herself has also written the screenplay, her first time doing so, and it will be published in book form for the true diehards. If that doesn’t excite you, I don’t know what will.
Next: A boy befriends a monster