After the very successful "Harry Potter" movie adaptation franchise, J.K. Rowling's "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is heading to the big screen next. And who else would be the best man to helm the spinoff flick than someone very familiar to the magical world out of Rowling's genius, David Yates?
Yates, the English filmmaker who directed the last four films of the blockbuster franchise, is said to be in active negotiations to helm the upcoming Warner Bros. trilogy, AceShowbiz has learned.
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is a spinoff based on one of the books titular character Harry Potter and his schoolmates studied at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Just last September, Rowling announced her intent to start a new franchise using the spinoff book and she also revealed her intentions of writing the screenplay for the trilogy, according to E! News.
"Although it will be set in the worldwide community of witches and wizards where I was so happy for seventeen 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," Rowling said of the trilogy.
"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, seventy years before Harry's gets underway," the 49-year-old author added at the time. "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."
Since her announcement, no name has been associated to the upcoming Warner Bros. trilogy until recently when sources gushed that David Yates has been tapped once again to take on a big project with Rowling.
Aside from the director, no actor has been formally cast as of late for the lead role of Newt Scamander, a "magizoologist" in his early 20s, reported Variety.
Meanwhile, the once lead actor of the "Harry Potter" franchise, Daniel Radcliffe, has expressed recently that he has no plans of reprising his role, noting that WB hadn't approached him for the new movie series at all.
"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" is set to hit theaters on Nov. 18, 2016.