J.K. Rowling revealed today that we’re getting five—FIVE!—Fantastic Beasts movies instead of the three we expected.
The announcement came during a live fan event ahead of the Nov. 18 premiere of the first movie in the series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Streaming globally from London, the event included a new sizzle real, interviews with the cast, and Rowling’s surprise appearance and movie announcement.
“We always knew it was going to be more than one movie, we knew that from the start,” Rowling told the crowd. “We’ve now done the plotting properly, so we’re pretty sure it’s going to be five movies.”
You can watch the full hour-long event below.
J.K. Rowling herself is penning the scripts to the Harry Potter spinoffs, which will follow the story of Newt Scamander, the author of a textbook on magical creatures that Harry and the gang studied at Hogwarts.
The film is set in 1920s New York, and promises to reveal much more about wizarding in North America versus what we know about the culture of British wizards.
Other hints dropped during the fan event include what Newt will be up to next—we’ll see him in another city, though not New York—and who might appear.
“We do talk about Dumbledore and Grindelwald,” Rowling said. The wizards famously duked it out in a duel long before Dumbledore was headmaster at Hogwarts.
That’s sure to spark the interest of Harry Potter fans who are eager to see some familiar faces in upcoming movies.
