JK Rowling's Harry Potter movie spin-off Fantastic Beasts to be 'at least' a trilogy

The Newt Scamander films will be set 70 years before Harry Potter went to Hogwarts

JK Rowling has been tantalising fans on Twitter with clues about her new screenplay Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. But what the author hasn’t revealed is that there might well be “three or more” of the Harry Potter spin-off movies in the works.

“Jo has a vision for this extension of the franchise, and for the first time, she is writing the script for what she believes is at least a trilogy,” Warner Bros. CEO Kevin Tsujihara said according to the LA Times.

The movies look set to be directed by David Yates who helmed the final four of the eight-part Potter franchise.

Yates is also reported to be planning to reunite the Potter filmmaking team of David Heyman, J.K. Rowling, Steve Kloves and Lionel Wigram.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander

Based on a 42-page textbook set for Hogwarts pupils and published in 2001, the spin-off Warner Bros film follows “magizoologist” Newt Scamander, who dedicates his life to the search for magical creatures in an “extension” of Potter’s fantastical world.

Rowling revealed some details to fans last September: “The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films,” she wrote. “But Newt’s story will start in New York, seventy years before Harry’s gets underway.”

Last week Rowling fuelled excitement among fans by posting a riddle on Twitter. The tweet, which read: "Cry, foe! Run amok! Fa awry! My wand won't tolerate this nonsense", led to a day of wild speculation before the author revealed it was an anagram referring to Newt Scamander.

It has also been rumoured that Rowling’s Quidditch Through the Ages – another of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts set texts - will be adapted for the big screen.

Read more: JK Rowling to build Hagrid hut on Scottish estate
“Newt Scamander only meant to stay in New York for a few hours…#anagram”