What's happening to the Fantastic Beasts franchise?

It is fair to say that Fantastic Beasts, the Harry Potter prequel franchise, hasn't had quite the same global impact as its predecessor, which has puts its future into doubt.

The movies follow Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), an expert in magical creatures who is thrust into the heart of the action in the Wizarding World when a creature starts to wreak havoc in New York City. When the investigation exposed Gellert Grindelwald as the mastermind behind dark uprisings across the world decades before Voldemort's rise to power.

The Fantastic Beasts franchise was originally intended to be five movies in total, and three have been released so far: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The movies are now all on Netflix in the UK, with the 2022 movie storming the 'most watched' charts despite the film not making as much of a splash at the box office, so clearly there is still interest in the franchise.

Next to nothing is as popular as Harry Potter, so why is Fantastic Beasts future unclear? Here is what we know, and how likely it is fans can expect it to return.

Will the Fantastic Beasts franchise return?

While there were plans for five movies, it has been said that the franchise has been "shelved" after its third outing. This was further bolstered by lead actor Redmayne suggesting that fans are likely not going to see his character again.

When asked if fans have seen the last of Newt Scamander, Redmayne told ComicBook: "I think they probably have. That was a very frank answer, but yeah. And that’s as far as I know. I mean, you’d have to speak to the people at Warner Bros. and JK Rowling, but as far as I know, that’s it."

The actor added that fans will possibly see what Newt got up to in Paris if they visit Universal World in Florida when it opens, but did not clarify what that would entail.

Jude Law has also suggested that the franchise has been put to bed following the third film, telling Variety: "I know it’s certainly on hold. My guess would be that, now that they’re doing Harry Potter as a TV show, they’ll probably put their energy into that. I certainly haven’t heard that there’s anything on the horizon.”

Director David Yates previously said that the Fantastic Beasts franchise is not likely to return anytime soon as he told the Inside Total Film podcast: "With Beasts, it’s all just parked. We made those three movies, the last one through a pandemic, and it was enormous fun but it was tough.

"We were actually filming when there wasn’t a vaccine. Thankfully, no one got sick, but we did have the most detailed protocols in place. We’re all so proud of [Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore] and when it went out into the world, we just needed to sort of stop and pause, and take it easy."

Yates added: "I’m sure at some point, we’ll be back. But yeah, I haven’t spoken to Jo, I haven’t spoken to [producer] David Heyman, I haven’t spoken to Warner Bros; we’re just taking a pause. It’s quite nice. It allows me to do [other things]."

So this suggests that the franchise could return one day, it just won't be as soon as Harry Potter fans might have been hoping for.

Diminishing returns

The Fantastic Beasts franchise started off strongly, earning over $800m at the global box office back in 2016. However, rather than become a cinematic juggernaut like Harry Potter the spin-off brought diminishing returns the longer it went on.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald earned over $650m globally, while Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore earned just over $400m. For all intents and purposes the third film was a box office failure, earning the lowest opening for the franchise at the domestic box office and a drop in numbers for its second week.

With the diminishing returns it seems understandable that the franchise has been put on hold for now, at least until the creators behind it can figure out a way to make it work.

Controversy after controversy

As well as struggling at the box office the franchise dealt with its fare share of controversy around its cast outside of the movie. Grindelwald was originally meant to be played by Johnny Depp, who was revealed after Colin Farrell portrayed the character in disguise for the duration of the first film.

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Depp played the character in The Crimes of Grindelwald, but after his 2018 libel lawsuit against News Group Newspapers, and legal dispute with ex-wife Amber Heard who he sued for defamation in 2019 over her 2018 Washington Post op-ed he was dropped from the movie. Mads Mikkelsen took over the role for Secrets of Dumbledore.

Ezra Miller, who plays Credence Barebone, has also been the subject of controversy when they were hit with allegations including assault, burglary, and harassment. In 2022, Miller was charged with felony burglary of a private home in Vermont in May 2022, they pled guilty to trespassing and was served a 12 month probation sentence.

Harry Potter author JK Rowling also has courted controversy over her comments around women's rights and transgender people. The author's opposition to proposed laws that would make it simpler for transgender people to transition has led to widespread criticism and seen her be described as transphobic, which she denies.

While it is unclear whether these controversies had a direct impact on the reception of the Fantastic Beasts franchise, they are examples of negative press that it didn't need.

The Fantastic Beasts movies are available to watch on Netflix.