Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them from J.K. Rowling is based on a Hogwarts textbook she penned over 13 years ago.  When asked if the series of stories was a prequel or sequel to her Harry Potter series of books/films the author stated that they are simply an “extension of the wizarding world.”

The Rowling “extension” has found a movie studio home and will be made into a trilogy of films with the screenplay being provided by the author herself.

The U.K. home of Warner Bros. Studios located in Leavesden (home of the Harry Potter Studio Tour) will be the permanent shooting location for the films and will center around her character Newt Scamander, a magi-zoologist who lived 70-years before the start of the Harry Potter adventures at Hogwarts (sounds a bit like a prequel to me).

The Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them textbook was first mentioned in the book “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” in which Newt Scamander is the supposed author of the text that deals with the subject matter of magical creatures. The Foreword of the textbook was written by Albus Dumbledore, who would be Hogwarts headmaster during the time of Harry Potter.

Warner Bros. announced that the projected release date for the first of three films will take place on November 18, 2016.