With Deadline reporting that the first draft of JK Rowling’s script for ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them‘ has officially been turned into Warner Bros, the studio has cranked up its search for the actor who will play the lead role of Newt Scamander. Their search seems to have settled Eddie Redmayne squarely in their sights, with the Oscar-winner in talks for the lead role, which makes for a markedly different casting choice than any made for the ‘Harry Potter’ films.
The ‘Harry Potter’ leads were relatively unknown (as they were children at the time), and any well-known actors in the franchise were usually brought in for smaller side-character roles, aside from Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith, who played Professors Severus Snape and Minerva McGonagall respectively. Casting Redmayne potentially means the lead character in this series is going to require some serious acting chops, as the film will most likely be a bit more adult right from the get-go, even if it does take place in the ‘Harry Potter’ universe. (For those unaware, the movie is a kind of prequel to the ‘Harry Potter’ films, taking place 70 years before the start of the first ‘Potter’ film, though the story within supposedly stands on its own, the only connection being that it takes place in the same universe, and that the man writes a book about the creatures he encounters that is a Hogwarts Textbook by the time Harry goes to school there).
Coming back for ‘Fantastic Beasts’ is David Yates (director of the last four ‘Harry Potter’ films) who will be directing the first movie, Lional Wigram as executive producer (he also served the same role on the last four ‘Potter’ films), Steve Kloves as producer (Kloves penned 7 of the scripts for the original series) alongside David Heyman who will also be producing (he produced all 8 of the previous ‘Potter’ films.) According to Heyman, the new series will consist of at least 3 movies, which hopefully means we’re going to get a trilogy out of the story.
What are your thoughts on Redmayne taking the lead role in ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them?” Is it too soon to be jumping back into the ‘Harry Potter’ world? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Source: Slashfilm
