Warner Bros. to release J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' spinof

[frigidmagi]

LATimes

Muggles, rejoice: Warner Bros. is getting back into business with "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling.

More than two years after the last film in the eight-picture series about the iconic boy wizard hit theaters, Warner Bros. announced Thursday that it will release a "Harry Potter" spinoff of sorts. Rowling is set to pen her first screenplay, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” based on a 42-page book the author wrote in 2001 to accompany her "Harry Potter" series.

In the first "Harry Potter" novel, the protagonist studied a textbook called "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" while at his Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Rowling's new film will center on a character named Newt Scamander, who wrote that schoolbook, and will be set in New York 70 years pre-Potter. The movie will also feature some of the otherworldly creatures from the Potter franchise, and "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," Rowling said in a statement.

PHOTOS: Life after 'Harry Potter'

The author is describing the new project as "an extension of the wizarding world" — not a sequel or prequel to "Potter." Rowling, 48, said that when Warner Bros. proposed turning "Fantastic Beasts" into a film, she felt uncomfortable with the idea of another writer signing on to the project when she was so familiar with the "fictional universe."

"I feel very protective of it, and I already knew a lot about Newt," she said. "As hard-core Harry Potter fans will know, I liked him so much that I even married his grandson, Rolf, to one of my favorite characters from the Harry Potter series, Luna Lovegood."

Rowling has long been cagey about whether she would return to the world of Potter. In 2010, she told Oprah Winfrey that she "could definitely" write an eighth or ninth book. "I think I am done, but you never know," the author told the talk show host. Earlier this year, Rowling made headlines when the Sunday Times revealed she had penned the crime novel "The Cuckoo's Calling" under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.

The Potter books have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide, while the film series has grossed more than $7.7 billion globally. The movie franchise proved to be so popular that it spawned theme parks in Orlando, Fla., Hollywood and Japan, video games and a website called Pottermore devoted to the lesser-known parts of the magical world. "Fantastic Beasts" will be developed across all of these platforms, but a release date for the film has yet to be announced.

In a surprise move J.K. Rowlings has announced that she would like more fame and wealth yes please.

Sorry had to take the shot. I would agree that the Potterverse is certainly big enough for more stories and I am actually pleased that she is stepping away from Harry Potter for this. It was a fun if flawed series (no more then other very popular series and less so then many) and I certainly think there's room for more.

[Josh]

Yeah, I have high hopes for Rowling's post-Potter career. People might think it's funny to feel sorry for her on account of being somewhat pigeonholed by her supermassive success, but the lady has a passion for writing that goes beyond one series, and she's had some fits and starts in getting that going.

It's easy for folks to say that she's sitting on a pile of money, but she earned that pile of money by writing a thoroughly engaging series that people paid for in record numbers, not knocking over banks or playing Goldman Sachs aluminum games or whatever.

I really think it's a lot better for authors to have a reasonable backlist of material before they hit it big- then they can go on to their other projects without being entirely defined by the one thing.

[Hotfoot]

I'm just going to put this out there, she also created a multi-book long fantasy series that manages to appeal to a wide range of audiences and tell a complete and whole story start to finish without taking forever and a goddamn day to do it with books that were ultimately quite readable.

That's more than most fantasy authors today can really say.

[Comrade Tortoise]

It's easy for folks to say that she's sitting on a pile of money, but she earned that pile of money by writing a thoroughly engaging series that people paid for in record numbers, not knocking over banks or playing Goldman Sachs aluminum games or whatever.

In my experience, people who write speculative fiction dont actually expect to earn a living doing so most of the time. Authors have dayjobs... They write a thing because it is fun (for certain hair-pulling definitions of fun or because they feel otherwise compelled*). If they manage to get something published at all, getting on NYT Best Seller List is at the extreme end of their hope spectrum. Being invited to cons is more reasonable.

Rowling...

"It sold how many copies? No. Noooo that is awesome but... wow. Is that even possible? You want me to write more? Um... You did not have to ask, I have a massive pile of notes and had already started on the second book. Well no, I did not expect this, I was just hoping the first book would do well enough that I could pitch the second book to you and have some prayer of publishing it as well. Yeah, I can have it done in a year."

*Just go talk to Havoc about his writing.

[Josh]

It's easy for folks to say that she's sitting on a pile of money, but she earned that pile of money by writing a thoroughly engaging series that people paid for in record numbers, not knocking over banks or playing Goldman Sachs aluminum games or whatever.

In my experience, people who write speculative fiction dont actually expect to earn a living doing so most of the time. Authors have dayjobs... They write a thing because it is fun (for certain hair-pulling definitions of fun or because they feel otherwise compelled*). If they manage to get something published at all, getting on NYT Best Seller List is at the extreme end of their hope spectrum. Being invited to cons is more reasonable.

Rowling...

"It sold how many copies? No. Noooo that is awesome but... wow. Is that even possible? You want me to write more? Um... You did not have to ask, I have a massive pile of notes and had already started on the second book. Well no, I did not expect this, I was just hoping the first book would do well enough that I could pitch the second book to you and have some prayer of publishing it as well. Yeah, I can have it done in a year."

*Just go talk to Havoc about his writing.

For my own part I would like to eventually turn some decent income off the books and if I didn't have a dayjob that I love more I might even consider going full-time pro. It is possible to make a reasonable living as a writer, one just has to approach it as a full-time business and go at it with the self-discipline of a small business owner putting in the hours and taking care of all the various details of the business. However, that is an attitude that the rest of the industry (publishers and agents in particular) have tried to discourage.

[Comrade Tortoise]

It's easy for folks to say that she's sitting on a pile of money, but she earned that pile of money by writing a thoroughly engaging series that people paid for in record numbers, not knocking over banks or playing Goldman Sachs aluminum games or whatever.

In my experience, people who write speculative fiction dont actually expect to earn a living doing so most of the time. Authors have dayjobs... They write a thing because it is fun (for certain hair-pulling definitions of fun or because they feel otherwise compelled*). If they manage to get something published at all, getting on NYT Best Seller List is at the extreme end of their hope spectrum. Being invited to cons is more reasonable.

Rowling...

"It sold how many copies? No. Noooo that is awesome but... wow. Is that even possible? You want me to write more? Um... You did not have to ask, I have a massive pile of notes and had already started on the second book. Well no, I did not expect this, I was just hoping the first book would do well enough that I could pitch the second book to you and have some prayer of publishing it as well. Yeah, I can have it done in a year."

*Just go talk to Havoc about his writing.

For my own part I would like to eventually turn some decent income off the books and if I didn't have a dayjob that I love more I might even consider going full-time pro. It is possible to make a reasonable living as a writer, one just has to approach it as a full-time business and go at it with the self-discipline of a small business owner putting in the hours and taking care of all the various details of the business. However, that is an attitude that the rest of the industry (publishers and agents in particular) have tried to discourage.

As a novelist that might be difficult until you are already published though. Once you have stuff out there, I can see that. It is certainly possible as a free-lance journalist or something like that, but you do need the initial success to pull that off with novels.

[Josh]

It's like any other business startup- you have to go in with a certain degree of financial preparation and not expect to make money any time soon, like three+ years, while pouring money down a fantastically hungry hole. Copyedit alone on the latest book ran over six hundred bucks, for example. You have to make the quality investments or have the skills to DIY things- for example, we outsource cover production specifically because we want somebody who produces professional covers, something that a lot of indie authors have trouble with. (It's not just a matter of good shooping, but also knowing the elements that go into proper cover construction, such as text elements and putting in an image that can fit well with those text elements.)

There's the learning curve that comes with any startup, and the patience it takes to work the job.

But this is all straying afield from Ms. Rowling's new venture.