'Fantastic Beasts’ Will Have A Sequel, & Here’s Everything We Know

Harry Potter fans received exciting news a few years ago when best-selling author J.K. Rowling announced she would be making her screenwriting debut for the spin-off film to the Harry Potter movies, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which hits theaters Nov. 18. Now, BuzzFeed reported that Fantastic Beasts will have a sequel, and the release date is now officially set: Nov. 16, 2018. This is good news for Rowling fans, because seriously, the more information that's released about the sequel, the more time fans will have to prepare.

On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Pictures confirmed previous reports that the sequel was in the works. As for the sequel's direction, the company released a statement revealing that the second Fantastic Beasts film "moves deeper into an increasingly dark time for the wizarding world, where Newt and our other heroes have to decide on their allegiances," Variety reported. It's has also been confirmed that David Yates, who directed the final four Harry Potter films and the first Fantastic Beasts film, will take on the sequel.

And — not just two — but all three Fantastic Beasts films are planned, with the trilogy expected to release in 2020, Variety reported. But this isn't the first time fans received inside information on what Rowling had up her sleeves for the sequel. Entertainment Weekly reported that Yates revealed the sequel takes the story "in a whole new direction," at Comic-Con in San Diego last month.

"We’ve seen the script for Part [two], for the second movie, which takes the story in a whole new direction – as you should, you don’t want to repeat yourself,” Yates said. "The second movie introduces new characters as she builds this part of the Harry Potter universe further. It’s a very interesting development from where we start out. The work is pouring out of her.”

Undoubtedly, everyone involved in the making of Fantastic Beasts has put in unimaginable work to make the much-anticipated film magical. Take Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne, who stars as Newt Scamander, for example; the actor shared the process of developing his character, even down to the intricate details of designing Newt's wand.

"I sort of assumed that I would have a wand sort of plopped in my hand,” Redmayne told EW. “But the reality is that these amazing props designers come, and then you have really a quite intricate discussion with David Yates about what qualities Newt has. ... So we had all these discussions and went back and forth with designs, and when the thing arrived I was pretty excited. My inner 9-year-old was having a disco, and then I was actually presented with it."

The announcement of the Fantastic Beast sequel comes as Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Parts One and Two — a stage play based on an original new story by Rowling, and authors John Tiffany and Jack Thorne — recently debuted in London to rave reviews. The script, published Sunday, sold 2 million copies in two days.