We can all use some more magic. And who better to show us where to look than Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne, and his wonderful fantastic beasts such as the niffler, a little fantasy anteater which loves gold coins. While we’re still a while away from the release of the third FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM movies, it’s never too early to take a page from Newt Scamander's book and catalog everything we know about the threequel.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM 3 (which will probably not be the final title) is currently slated for July 15, 2022.

Not yet! The movie only began shooting in September 2020, after being postponed from a planned spring shoot. (FANTASTIC BEASTS 3 was originally scheduled to shoot in mid-March, just as the COVID-19 pandemic shut down movie productions around the world.)

We will update the moment any footage from the movie is released to the public.

The previous FANTASTIC BEASTS movie was FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD, which came out in the fall of 2018. And while it was very intense, all of the heroes came out the other side alive. (Although one was quickly being swayed towards the darker side of magic.)

As that story continues, Redmayne will return as Scamander, alongside Jude Law as the young Albus Dumbledore, Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein, Dan Folger as Jacob Kowalski, and Alison Sudol as Queenie Goldstein, who (spoiler) joined the evil Grindelwald at the end of the last movie. (Queenie, no!)

Also returning are Ezra Miller, Jessica Williams, and Victoria Yeates, as Newt’s put-upon assistant. The cast is one of the very best parts of the new HARRY POTTER-adjacent series, and we can’t wait to see them all back in magical, old-timey action. And early press reports suggest that the focus in this new entry is equally split between Scamander, Grindelwald, and Dumbledore, so that will be an interesting new dynamic.

Of course, not everybody is back. Johnny Depp recently made headlines not just for a widely covered court case in England, but also for being asked to step down from the role of Grindelwald after the trial wrapped. Days later, a replacement had already been identified, probably because the movie is currently in production. But who will be taking over Depp’s deliciously villainous role? None other than Mads Mikkelsen, the insanely talented Danish actor from CASINO ROYALE, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY and DOCTOR STRANGE.

One of the other really fun aspects of the FANTASTIC BEASTS movies is that they take place in a very specific time and place, with an emphasis on the intersection of the magical world and historical events. Each new chapter is also set in a new international location. (The first movie took place primarily in New York City and the second movie took place in Paris.)

With this new installment, the international city is Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which is insanely cool because we haven’t seen the South American Wizarding World. So that should be a really fun thing to explore! In terms of timing, CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD teased that the evil wizard would have a hand in World War II, and the third FANTASTIC BEASTS is described as being set during the lead-up to the war itself. More specifically, the official logline says that it will detail "the Wizarding World’s involvement in World War II." What, exactly, their involvement is, remains to be seen. But that is a tantalizing idea that we can’t wait to see them dig into.

Up until now, the FANTASTIC BEASTS films have been solely authored by J.K. Rowling. Rowling penned the original HARRY POTTER novels but didn’t have a direct hand in writing the cinematic adaptations. She has taken a more hands-on approach to the FANTASTIC BEASTS films.

But for the third movie, she’s made room for another HARRY POTTER veteran: Screenwriter Steve Kloves, who wrote all but one of the wildly successful HARRY POTTER adaptations. He returns to the franchise with this FANTASTIC BEASTS entry. We can’t wait to see what energy he brings to the new film. He’s certainly one of the leading creative minds behind the franchise, and an unsung hero for wrangling Rowling’s lengthy, dense novels to the big screen. If you have fallen in love with the HARRY POTTER films, chances are it’s because of what Kloves achieved.

With this third movie, Rowling and Warner Bros. hit the halfway point with the planned storyline. There are still two more FANTASTIC BEASTS movies coming, at least based on the original plan set out by Rowling.

That means that we can likely look forward to another solid cliffhanger ending, and Mads Mikkelsen (seen above in CHAOS WALKING) will have a lot of time to develop his own take on the Grindelwald character. So, get ready to return to the Wizarding World as you follow the continuing adventures of Newt and the gang. Where else will they go and what else will they encounter?

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All images courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures.