I’ll be the first to admit it – when I learned of Warner Bros’ intentions to turn a textbook from the Harry Potter Cinematic Universe into a film, I had my doubts. But fast forward to April 2016, and the film’s official teaser trailer would suggest that the film version of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them looks halfway decent; then again, my expectations were non-existent. The trailer features Eddie Redmayne gallivanting around in the same sumptuous shots found throughout the original Harry Potter series, and even features the original Harry Potter score, but as the trailer continues, one aspect becomes more and more apparent: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is nothing more than a Warner Bros cash grab. Okay, it’s a good one, but it’s a money-grubbing studio scramble to capitalize upon a familiar (but Harry Potter-less) cinematic universe nonetheless.
You might be asking yourself, “Well there’s no mention of Harry Potter in the Fantastic Beasts trailer, so how could it possibly a money grab?” I suppose that’s a fair question to ask, but its really quite simple– here’s a moment in the trailer when Colin Farrell’s character, Percival Graves’ voice can be heard calling out Redmayne’s Newt Scamander’s curious background, stating Scamander was “…kicked out of Hogwarts for endangering human life with a beast…”
Whoa! Wait a minute! Did Graves mention HOGWARTS? The magical school of witchcraft and wizardry that we–the movie going masses–came to know and love from our beloved (and revenue friendly) Harry Potter films!? The one and only! If that got you excited, just imagine how excited the studio execs and merchandising managers behind Fantastic Beasts must have felt when they saw the first cut of the trailer–dollar signs everywhere.
As if the Hogwarts allusion wasn’t enough, there’s one name drop featured in the trailer that is effectively the Harry Potter name drop to beat all name drops, as Graves continues to interrogate Scamander as clips of Redmayne’s character meandering through New York City roll by, asking “What makes Albus Dumbledore so fond of you?” Ding, ding, ding, there you have it. Full circle, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the Harry Potter films exist in the same universe, which equates to dollar signs in the eyes of every business manager even remotely involved with anything Harry Potter.
Realistically, Fantastic Beasts could not have come at a more pivotal time considering Warner Bros’ current fiscal state. After pouring literal hundreds of millions of dollars into its DC Cinematic Universe, Warner Bros is hurting after the critical drubbing Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice took in late March. While the film is likely to make back all of its cost in the back end, Warner Bros cannot be feeling all that confident in the lackluster reaction with films for Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Justice League, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash coming down the pike.
Luckily for Warner Bros, however, it seems as though J.K. Rowling could use some more money, and has graciously optioned her entire Harry Potter related world into a (hopeful) wellspring of revenue-boosting properties for the studio to inevitably mine until bone dry over the next decade. Someone at Warner Bros decided that the one thing American movie going audiences really want isn’t a gritty super hero universe, but actually a whimsical universe of wizardry that spans the entire globe! So this go round, Fantastic Beasts has been set in 1926 New York, so us Americans can feel like we’re getting our fair share of fictional wizardry. Coincidentally enough (or not so, you decide), Universal Studios Hollywood opened a second Wizarding World of Harry Potter to act as the bicoastal sibling to the original Orlando location, so if all things go according to plan with Fantastic Beasts, don’t be surprised when there’s many a film tie-in associated with the park. Furthermore, for many of the same reasons everyone viewed Disney’s acquisition of the Star Wars franchise as the “business deal of the century,” Fantastic Beasts provides yet another wonderful merchandising outlet for toys, costumes, home wares, and miscellany for Warner Bros to continue to try and lessen the already extensive lead Disney has on their studio, in terms of diversified revenue streams.
So there you have it, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the heir apparent to being the cash cow that Warner Bros had hoped Batman v. Superman would be. Whether or not it actually translates into the Harry Potter Cinematic Universe spawning feature film Warner Bros wants it to be is yet to be determined. Either way, I have to admit, they’ve caught my attention through their buzzworthy name drops–Hogwarts and Dumbledore, if you lost track–and I will be more than happy to donate fifteen bucks to the Warner Bros cash grab initiative that Fantastic Beasts is.
