Harry Potter director David Yates has confirmed that Fantastic Beasts is on hold, for now. During an interview with Total Film, the filmmaker offered an update on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
“With Beasts, it's all just parked,” he said. “We made those three movies, the last one through a pandemic, and it was enormous fun, but it was tough.”
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore was the last to film, and while fans originally thought Beasts would be a trilogy, J.K. Rowling confirmed there were actually five films planned. "We knew that from the start, and we set a trilogy as a kind of placeholder,” she said. “But we've now done the plotting, so we're pretty sure there's going to be five movies.”
However, making the sequel wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. “We were actually filming when there wasn't a vaccine,” said Yates. “Thankfully, no one got sick, but we did have the most detailed protocols in place.”
On top of difficulties with filming, the film just didn’t do very well. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore earned just $407.2 million at the global box office, based on a $200 million budget.
“We're all so proud of [Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore],” added Yates. “When it went out into the world, we just needed to sort of stop and pause, and take it easy.”
When it comes to box office performance, 2016's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a commercial success, grossing more than $800 million worldwide, even though its opening weekend numbers fell short compared to the rest of the franchise. However, The Crimes of Grindelwald suffered a 20% decline, earning $650 million globally, with The Secrets of Dumbledore only dwindling further.
Crucially, it was critically panned, with IGN giving it just 4/10. Our Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore review said: “While Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore finally makes Dumbledore canonically gay, it does little else of note, remaining scattered across half a dozen inconsequential subplots for most of its runtime. It looks drab and feels like it was made by people who want to leave its magical premise behind, even though the series refuses to have anything resembling grown-up politics or perspectives.”
Unfortunately, the future of the franchise reportedly rested on the fate of The Secret of Dumbledore, so it’s unsurprising to see Warner Bros. shelve Fantastic Beasts, at least for the time being.
Want to read more about Harry Potter? Check out Daniel Radcliffe’s documentary about his Harry Potter stunt double as well as how to watch the Harry Potter movies in chronological order.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
