J.K. Rowling has been answering questions about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them during the film's world premiere, as she revealed some interesting new information.
With the Harry Potter spin-off movie set to hit movie theatre screens around the world in the coming days, the billionaire writer was pressed on a number of details in the upcoming film. Here's what she said:
When asked about wanting to do five movies, she said: "Well, I think we originally – to tell you the truth – we said a trilogy as a placeholder. I think we wanted to be honest with people, that it was going to be more than one movie.
"And then there came a point, in the drafting of the story, where I said to David [Yates]: 'David, this feels like five movies, and I think I'm pretty certain about that," she told Variety.
"It's ambitious to tell it in five, to be honest, because we're spanning 19 years, but I can see an arc to five, so that's how it happened."
Now, it's very rare that a project of this scale is announced before the release of the first film in the series – which it was – however given the success of Rowling and the Harry Potter series, the fanfare has been of epic proportions.
There had been some recent controversy surrounding the casting of Johnny Depp in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Rowling was quick to defend that decision.
She told E!: "I didn’t approach him – although he was approached with my full blessing, because I thought he’d be amazing in the part.
"I can’t say much, because there are surprises in the movie, but I’m really happy with his performance. And I think the fans will be, too."
GameZone has run several stories in regards to the part that Albus Dumbledore will play in this series, with rumours suggesting that we'll see a bit more of his backstory this time around, and potentially a look at his sexuality as well.
While Rowling was not going to give very much away, she did have an answer – of sorts.
Speaking to Screencrush, she said: "Well, I can’t tell you everything I would like to say because this is obviously a five-part story, so there’s lots to unpack in that relationship.
"I will say that you will see Dumbledore as a younger man, and quite a troubled man because he wasn’t always the sage. He was always very clever, but we’ll see what I think was the formative period of his life.
"As far as his sexuality is concerned, watch the space."
