What a very Potter year it is for Harry Potter fans. In addition to the release of the script of the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, in one short month we’ll get to experience Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the beginning of what will be a 5-film spinoff of the original Harry Potter series. 

Set decades prior to the events in Harry Potter, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them follows Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander, a magizoologist, who has accidentally set these beasts loose on an unsuspecting muggle population. The film is loosely based on the fake textbook of the same name from author J.K. Rowling, and while it’d be easy to be skeptical about such a spinoff, it certainly helps that Rowling herself is responsible for penning the script to this film, and will likely at least have a hand in the overall story of this impending franchise.

In anticipation of the film’s November release, Empire Magazine has released a subscriber-only issue of their magazine, which features a Thunderbird just about ready to grab Newt from the rooftop of a New York building.

While excitement for this film was definitely already pretty high to begin with — as one could imagine for a spinoff of one of the most profitable franchises of all time — the stakes for this film were raised when Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling announced that it would not just be a trilogy, but 5-film series. Had it not been for Rowling’s heavy involvement, many fans would be ready to cast this one aside, but trust in the author has definitely proven wise so far.

She’s yet to put out a terrible book (Harry Potter or not), and based on everything she’s said in the past, she’s the biggest fan of this world than anyone else.

No way would she let Hollywood tarnish this beloved legacy of hers, which has delighted millions upon millions.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them hits theaters on November 18, 2016.

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SOURCE: Empire (via Screen Rant)