J.K. Rowling Working On ‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ Script

Harry Potter author and Fantastic Beasts screenwriter J.K. Rowling is now penning the prequel-slash-sequel series’ next installment, Rowling said on her official website.

Asked by a fan what she’s currently writing, Rowling answered, “I’ve just finished the fourth Galbraith novel, Lethal White, and I’m now writing the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts 3.”

Rowling will then next begin to write a children’s book not involving Harry Potter or his wizarding world, a story Rowling said has been in the works for six years.

The famed author scripts and produces the Fantastic Beasts spinoff series, set decades before Harry Potter’s adventures at Hogwarts, mostly centered around magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne).

Asked by another reader how much say she has in the ongoing film series from producers Warner Bros. and director David Yates, Rowling said the two “have always let me have my say, though not necessarily the final word.”

“That’s true of all the producers, of whom I’m only one: our input is taken seriously but it is very much a collaborative effort,” she added. “The director is ultimately responsible for everything that’s seen on the screen. As the screenwriter, the majority of my input comes at an earlier stage.”

The next installment, The Crimes of Grindelwald, returns to Hogwarts for the first time since 2011’s Harry Potter saga-closer Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Future Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore — played here by Jude Law — recruits former student Newt in order to thwart the villainous plans of powerful dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), who aims to empower pure-blood wizards and have them rule over all non-magical beings.

This first sequel, one of four planned future followups, takes place largely in Paris before the globe-trotting series moves on to other cities throughout the world as the series progresses.

Starring Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Zoe Kravitz, Claudia Kim, Johnny Depp, and Jude Law, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald opens November 16, followed by the yet-to-be-named Fantastic Beasts 3 on November 20, 2020.