Producer David Heyman recently sat down with Collider to give an update on the production of "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them," a spin-off book written by author J.K Rowling which focuses primarily on a wizard named Newt Scamander and is set approximately 70 years prior to the events of the "Harry Potter" books.
David Heyman was one of the guiding hands that propelled the "Harry Potter" films into the massive success that they are today and is currently working again with J.K. Rowling to adapt "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
"Jo (J.K. Rowling) is writing, and we don't yet have a start date," Heyman stated when asked how far along they were. "We're in the very early stages of pre-production and development."
Heyman did not confirm nor deny that Academy Award-winning Eddie Redmayne would be portraying the main character and simply implied that they were still in the very early stages of casting. Heyman also mentioned that there are several main roles that they still have to fill.
Eddie Redmayne recently won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking in the film "The Theory of Everything."
When asked which projects were scheduled for release, Heyman answered "The film that will be coming out next will be "The Light Between Oceans," which Derek Cianfrance has directed. That's got Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, who was just in "Ex Machina." And then, the next film that we'll shoot will be "Fantastic Beasts," I suspect."
About four months ago Screen Rant reported that David Heyman also stated director David Yates, who helmed the last four films of the "Harry Potter" franchise, would be returning to helm "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Heyman also stated that Warner Bros. was looking into making three films set to release in 2016, 2018, and 2020.
