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Little, Brown to publish second Fantastic Beasts screenplay this November
Little, Brown is set to publish the original screenplay of the second Fantastic Beasts film by J K Rowling this November.
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be out in shops on 16th November, the same day the film is released worldwide in cinemas.
The publication of the first in the franchise - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – in November 2016 made it the second biggest-selling playscript of all time, shifting 418,324 copies through Nielsen BookScan, second only to Rowling’s screenplay of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child released months earlier, also published by Little, Brown.
The publisher promised the text of the screenplay, which stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander and Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald, has some “surprising nods to the Harry Potter stories” that will “delight fans of both the books and films”.
Where the first film ended with Grindelwald in custody, the second will show his escape as the dark wizard sets about gathering followers, most of whom are unsuspecting of his true agenda: to raise pure-blood wizards up to rule over all non-magical beings, in a journey taking readers from New York, to London to Paris. In an effort to thwart Grindelwald’s plans, Albus Dumbledore enlists Newt, his former Hogwarts student, who agrees to help once again, unaware of the dangers that lie ahead. Lines are drawn as love and loyalty are tested, even among the truest friends and family, in an increasingly divided wizarding world.
The first full-length trailer for the film, directed by David Yates, was released earlier this month. It sees a young Albus Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, join Scamander to battle dark wizard Grindelwald. Katherine Waterston also returns from the first Fantastic Beasts film as Tina Goldstein, an auror who also joins the fight against Grindelwald. Altogether there are five films planned for the franchise.
Charlie King, managing director of Little, Brown Book Group, said: “Everyone at Little, Brown is thrilled and honoured to be part of the team bringing J K Rowling’s original screenplay for Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald to readers across the globe. It is an incredibly exciting time in the Wizarding World, and like fans everywhere we can’t wait to see where the story takes us next.”
The English language hardback print editions will be published by Little, Brown Book Group in the UK, priced £16.99 and Scholastic in the US and Canada, while the e-book edition will be simultaneously published by Pottermore.
More than $800m was amassed from the release of the first film in 2016.
Rowling was forced to defend the casting of Depp in December following a backlash from fans unhappy about the circumstances surrounding his divorce from actress Amber Heard. At the time Rowling admitted she had been concerned about the actor’s private life and had considered recasting the role but, but after discussions, had concluded she was “genuinely happy” to have him play the character.
