JK Rowling confirms five new Harry Potter movies
A planned trilogy of films based on JK Rowling's book "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" will now be turned into five films, the Harry Potter author said Thursday.
Rowling, 51, who is writing the screenplays, surprised fans with the announcement during a live-event in London.
"We always knew that it was going to be more than one movie - we knew that from the start - so we set a trilogy as a kind of placeholder, because we knew there would be more than one movie," Rowling said.
"I've now done the plotting properly, so we're pretty sure it's going to be five movies."
The first of the fantasy spinoff films will premiere in November and the lead character - wizard Newt Scamander - will be played by Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne.
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The film, directed by David Yates who directed the four most recent Harry Potter films, will also star Katherine Waterston, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight.
The film's action takes place in New York decades before the events of the other Harry Potter films.
The original Harry Potter books have sold more than 450 million copies worldwide in 73 languages. Combined, the original seven films have grossed nearly 7.7 billion dollars.