Written by Logan J. Fowler and Justin Matchick
Release Date: November 18th, 2016
Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Colin Farrell, Ezra Miller, Ron Perlman, Katherine Waterson, Jon Voight, Dan Fogler
Director: David Yates (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Parts 1 and 2, The Legend of Tarzan)
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: I actually had not known much about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them before the trailer in question dropped. That is odd, actually, considering Harry Potter was such a big part of my life. The “spin-off” to J.K. Rowling’s massively popular book series went beneath my radar so it seems, but I’d be curious to read the story the upcoming film is based on before it releases. -LJF
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: Believe it or not I haven’t seen most of the Harry Potter films despite being a really big fan of the books growing up. I am still a big fan of the lore and backstory of the series however, and a prequel exploring the history of the wizarding world sounds like a great idea for a film. I’m hoping that this trailer inspires enough confidence in the film that I’ll finally get around to making myself actually sit down and watch all eight of the Harry Potter movies in preparation. – JTM
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. This film boasts an impressive cast, including Oscar winner Redmayne. Fans of the Harry Potter franchise will no doubt eat all this up, but while the trailer is entertaining, it isn’t grabbing me like it should be. It may be because the editing is a bit wonky, and besides the basic IMDB knowledge I know nothing about the main character besides the fact that he has to run around a catch monsters. And fight Colin Farrell. Why is he fighting Colin Farrell? I guess we will find out in November (or maybe I should read the book). In any case, the scenery is wonderful, and the special effects are pretty dazzling. Hopefully it will all work together when the final product is released. -LJF
Rate the Trailer: 4 out of 5. Shifting the Harry Potter universe to focus on a totally new time period and setting opens up a lot of cool possibilities and it looks like this film is taking full advantage of that. I like that David Yates is still directing, enabling him to carry over his style that he developed from the last few Harry Potter films he worked on. The trailer showcases how well the film captures the look and feel of 1920s New York and combines it with the steampunk-lite vision of the world of wizards the films have always carried. The cast looks phenomenal as well, especially Eddie Redmayne who fits right into the eccentric character of Newt Scamander. Perhaps the character I’m most looking forward to is Dan Fogler’s, a human who accidentally stumbles upon the secret world of magic and must help Newt along the way. It’s a new kind of character for the Harry Potter franchise and I’d like to see how they handle him. – JTM
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Theater. As somebody who has been an advocate of J.K. Rowling’s previous foray into literature, and the correlating films based on her books, I will no doubt check out Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on the big screen. I just hope it pleases the die hard fans. –LJF
Theater, Rent, Undecided, No Thanks? Theater. This trailer has definitely got me excited, enough that I will likely try and watch all the Harry Potter movies I missed before this comes out. It’s been more than a few years since I was actively a fan of the Harry Potter Universe but between this movie and the recently released eighth book I’d say it’s the perfect time to get back into things. – JTM
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them begins the search on November 18th, 2016
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