FANTASTIC BEAST SAND WHERE TO FIND THEM
The Potter prequel kicks off The 10 Coolest Movies coming soon, including...
DIRECTOR David Yates STARRING Eddie Redmayne, Ezra Miller, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton
ETA 18 November
Fantastic Beasts is very much in the spirit of the Potter books but it’s not filled with young children and their issues,” says über-producer David Heyman, pondering if this is a more adult take on the Harry Potter universe. “I wouldn’t say it’s ‘dark’ but, as with all of Jo [ Rowling]’ s work, it’s not soft. There is material in all of the books that has a truth about life. Here, there’s darkness within. But there are also these creatures, and an awful lot of humour and heart – which I think will appeal to young and old alike.”
When the bell rang on the Potter franchise in 2011, it was never going to be the end – $7.7bn at the worldwide box office over eight movies made sure of that, plus the fanbase was too extensive and too rabid to not demand more. The answer presented itself in the form of
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them, a slim volume published in 2001, purporting to be Harry’s textbook from first novel Harry
Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.
It was written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym of Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who details within the 85 magical species that he’s collected over five continents. In his foreword, Hogwarts’ esteemed headmaster Albus Dumbledore writes ‘Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus’ or ‘Never tickle a sleeping dragon’ – but that’s exactly what Warner Bros, Rowling and Heyman chose to do, expanding the textbook into a $225m prequel set in the secret community of witches and wizards in 1920s New York.
“Jo was on set and has been an incredible support to us,” says Heyman when asked just how involved Rowling, who wrote the screenplay (her first), has been. “We’d run concepts by her, she’d give her thoughts and we’d adjust accordingly. She certainly was aware of all the lead casting choices before we finalised them.”
Said cast includes Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Jon Voight, Samantha Morton, Katherine Waterston, Ron Perlman and Gemma Chan, while main man Newt is played by an actor who knows just where to find an Academy Award, Eddie Redmayne. It’s smart casting, though Heyman insists it was a no-brainer.
“Newt is someone who communicates better with his creatures than he does with people,” he smiles. “He’s a Brit who finds himself in the US, and the American magical universe is different to the British one. Eddie was our first choice. He’s very good at playing characters that are out of step, as it were, and bringing to them a real heart and compassion. He has a desire to bring truth to every moment. He’s very charming and appealing to men and women alike. And he’s a timeless actor, so he fits perfectly into 1920s New York.”
Fantastic Beasts, says Heyman, will explore various aspects of the city – the Muggle world as well as the magical – and any gallivanting across the other four continents to capture outlandish specimens will be saved for sequels. But there will be beasts, and plenty of them, with several creatures escaping from Newt’s briefcase. No, they’re not pint-sized critters that can pass unnoticed among the skyscrapers – it is, of course, a magic suitcase...
“The beasts are going to be all shapes and sizes!” laughs Heyman. “They’re all going to be digital. These are extraordinary creatures. I don’t know how they could do this practically – as wonderful as animatronics are, you can’t get the detailed movement or flexibility that you can with the digital universe. We have explored animals in the real world. We’ve done a lot of research on movement and look because we want to make our creatures grounded. They should seem like they really could exist, so they’re not just pure fantasy.”
Heyman uses words like “truth” and “reality” throughout our chat, and is adamant that all movies, and especially fantasy movies, must be relatable if they’re to spirit viewers away. But just how long is this journey going to be? A trilogy is locked, with Fantastic Beasts 2 and 3 scheduled for 2018 and 2020, but might this spin-off series rival the Potter franchise in its number of instalments?
Heyman escapes giving a firm answer with the nimbleness of a beast escaping Newt’s briefcase. “Well, at the moment we’re concerned with making the first one as good as possible. In a way, that was the approach with each of the Potters – you try and make each film as good as it can be. And if it’s as good as we want it to be, then the rest will follow.” One thing’s for sure: the rabid fanbase will follow also.