When J.K. Rowling announced that she would be involved in a brand new film trilogy set in the world of the wizarding world of Harry Potter, fans anxiously followed along as ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ progressed. Now that a draft of the script has been completed and a release date has been set, there’s still the small matter of who will helm the project. Previously, ‘Gravity’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ director Alfonso Cuaron was rumored to be the one, but those reports were quickly shot down by the man himself. But a new contender has emerged for the coveted spot and he too has had some experience with the Boy Who Lived and his world.

According to sources, David Yates is being courted to revisit the Warner Bros. franchise based on Rowling’s beloved book series. Out of the eight Potter movies, Yates directed four of them including ‘Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix’ and both parts of ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. But now the filmmaker, who is currently shooting ‘Tarzan’ starring Alexander Skarsgard and Margot Robbie for WB, looks to be the frontrunner to fill the director’s chair of the brand new tale featuring author and adventurer Newt Scamander, which takes place seventy years before the young wizard’s classic adventures.

Though his offerings to the Harry Potter film series were met with mixed reviews, Rowling and Yates developed a strong relationship over the course of the creation of those movies, so he almost seems like the logical choice due to the sheer amount of world shaping that he has done already within the Potter mythology.  If he ends up coming to terms with the studio, we’ll get to see how Yates envisions magic beyond the UK and around the world, including New York City, the supposed starting point of the new movie.

What do you think about David Yates potentially directing ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’? Are you excited for his return to the Harry Potter franchise or do you think that J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. should keep looking? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

‘Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them’ apparates into theaters on November 18, 2016.

Source:  The Hollywood Reporter