File photo. ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling reading the first installment in her enormously popular series. (Facebook / The magic will last for eternity)

Rowling’s wizarding world is back on the big screen! …but lacking the dynamic trio of the scar-face, the flaming ginger and the “insufferable know-it-all” whom we all know and love.

On Tuesday, September 12th, Studio Warner Bros. announced that J.K. Rowling, author of the internationally (more than) successful ‘Harry Potter’ series, will be writing the screenplay for a film based about the magical adventures of Newt Scamander, the writer of the Hogwarts textbookFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Despite her heavy involvement in the production of the Potter films, this is Rowling’s first attempt at writing a screenplay.

According to Rowling, the film “is neither a prequel nor a sequel to the Harry Potter series, but an extension of the wizarding world.” Bringing all the fantastical fun of Rowling’s world to North America, she said, “The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the ‘Harry Potter’ books or seen the films, but Newt’s story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry’s gets underway.”

Fans can also expect to glimpse some familiar characters and creatures (Personally, I’m hoping for Dobby!), and there us speculation about whether Daniel Radcliffe might make a time travelling cameo.

In other Rowling news, Warner Bros. is partnering with the writing wizard to create a television adaptation of her dramatic novel The Casual Vacancy, which is set to air in 2014 on BBC One.

Republished from The Quill print edition, Volume 104, Issue 2, September 10, 2013.