The Harry Potter movies once served as Warner Bros.' most successful franchise, with many comic book fans blaming its success on the DCU not being a priority for the studios during that time!
Regardless, it's now been a long time since the final movie was released back in 2011, and since then, we've seen the studio launch a prequel/spin-off series with the Fantastic Beasts franchise. Unfortunately, that's proven to be something of a letdown for those who eat, sleep, and breathe all things Wizarding World.
While Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was undeniably fun, the sequels were a major decline in quality, with not even the level of damage control in the latest instalment doing much to put the troubled series back on the right track. We were once supposed to get at least two more movies to conclude this story, but those seem to have fallen by the wayside.
During a recent interview with NME (via SFFGazette.com), lead star Eddie Redmayne - who plays Newt Scamander - was asked if Fantastic Beasts 4 will eventually happen.
"I mean, at the moment, there’s nothing that I’m aware of," the British actor confirmed. "So, as I’m aware, it’s not something that’s on the cards." These comments follow a report from last November in which it was said the franchise has been axed by Warner Bros. Discovery.
That's disappointing for Harry Potter fans, but both The Crimes of Grindelwald and The Secrets of Dumbledore were box office disappointments, and the new regime at the studio forging ahead with those sequels...well, it wouldn't be the smartest of business decisions for the frugal CEO David Zaslav.
It's a shame this story won't receive a proper conclusion, though the decision to pivot from Newt to Dumbledore's rivalry with Gellert Grindelwald was always an odd one. Both Redmayne's character and those Fantastic Beasts were sidelined in their own franchise, possibly explaining why so many people found themselves losing interest in this series along the way.
We're sure the Harry Potter franchise is a well Warner Bros. will head back to sooner rather than later, though what form that will take is impossible to say. There continue to be rumblings about a big screen adaptation of The Cursed Child, though the original cast doesn't appear to be in any rush to reprise their iconic roles.
Stay tuned to SFFGazette.com for further updates on all things Fantastic Beasts.