‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ Sets Early Release Date and New Title
We’ve gotten so used to movies getting delayed later and later because of the pandemic that this news truly shocked us: The next Fantastic Beasts film is coming to movie theaters early. Why, it almost feels like a magic trick.
Granted, the movie was initially slated to open in theaters in November of 2021. That is still not happening. However, Warner Bros. previously postponed the film — the third in the Harry Potter prequel saga — to July of 2022. Instead, the movie will now open on April 15, 2022. Yes, you will be able to celebrate tax day by watching Eddie Redmayne battle magical creatures. That will surely take the sting out of things.
Along with the announcement of that new release date came the film’s official subtitle. Fantastic Beasts 3 is now known as Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore.
The young Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, was added to the franchise in the previous installment, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. In that film, the title character was played by Johnny Depp, but Warner Bros. replaced him in The Secrets of Dumbledore shortly after Depp lost a libel lawsuit in the U.K. stemming from allegations of domestic abuse against his ex-wife, Amber Heard. In his place, Grindelwald will be played by Mads Mikkelsen, who really might be one of the most excellent bad guy actors Hollywood has at the moment.
The rest of the cast includes returning stars Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Dan Fogler, and Ezra Miller. The series, set decades before the events of the Harry Potter books and films, is based on a Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them book that J.K. Rowling first published in 2001 as a companion piece to the Potter franchise. (Redmayne plays the book’s supposed author, Newt Scamander.) Rowling has previously said the Fantastic Beasts film series will be five movies long, which means there are two more to go after this one.