New maverick Ezra Miller, and is set to make millions. Melanie McDonagh is spellbound by this wizarding world
Watson, at least as Hermione.
The plot is, I may say, big on family relationships as well as magi-fascism. But it’s not aimed directly at the younger children who flocked to the early Harry Potter films; it’s rated 12A (interestingly, the Lego merchandise is aimed at children aged seven or over).
Fantastic Beasts is directed by David Yates, who has let it be known that Rowling has ideas for the next film after this one. Talking to Entertainment We e k ly about The Crimes of Grindelwald, he declares, “The movie takes the story in a whole new direction — as you should. You don’t want to repeat yourself. The second movie introduces new characters as she builds this part of the Harry Potter universe further. It’s a veryinteresting development from where we start out. The work is pouring out of her.”
So where might the next film go? To Berlin , presumably, given that what we’ve got here is a wizarding allegory of the rise of Hitler. Or Austria.
Meanwhile, during filming Depp generated some altogether unwelcome publicity of his own by virtue o f h i s v i t u p e ra t ive split from his former wife — he declared that he regretted the embarrassment this caused Rowling, who has, however, stood by him throughout. But in a way, the publicity is all good; he’s meant to be the anti-hero, after all.
The amount of money this new series will generate may well overtake the $814 million made by the first Fantastic Beasts film — not bad for a title that started life as a little paperback costing a fiver for Comic Relief. Last year, there was a mild fuss when Forbes magazine dropped Rowling from its list of global billionaires; the Crimes of Grindelwald should put her back on it.
It’s not as if it’s just the films that generate funds: the stage production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, for which she wrote the script, transferred to Broadway and is still going strong. This is a woman who can get her fans to purchase the text of an actual stage play. Certainly the merchandising side of Fantastic Beasts looks promising. You can buy a dear little plush Niffler for £35; a travelling trunk, minus the Kelpie, is £125.
There are dangers, of course, for the brand as it becomes more global, less cohesive, more convoluted. As The Atlantic magazine observed, Rowling is now close to entering George Lucas territory, that is, when the Star Wars creator turned his efforts to prequels and explainers.
Whatever. The Wizarding World phenomenon is now unstoppable. Rowling is the Pied Piper of our day and where she goes, we follow. And she’s only 53.