JK Rowling has described making the Fantastic Beasts films to be an unbelievable accident (Picture: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

It’s fair to say JK Rowling has probably struck gold twice. Off the back of Harry Potter now her five Fantastic Beasts films promise to enchant a brand new generation of Hogwarts fans.

But, without taking away any kudos, the 51-year-old has admitted bringing Newt Scamandar’s tale of 1920s wizardry to the big screen has all been ‘a bit of an accident’.

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‘This is unbelievable, but what’s weird about this, is that I never aspired to this,’ Rowling told the BBC at the Fantastic Beasts premiere.

‘This is very much an added extra.’


Rowling says she has scripted Fantastic Beasts in a similar way to Harry Potter (Picture: Warner Bros)

‘And the reason this exists, Fantastic Beasts, is really because I couldn’t let the story go.



‘Warner Brothers wanted to do something with Newt, and I knew a lot about Newt, so I thought I better give them what I’ve got, and so I started writing notes.

‘Then I wrote a story, then I banged out a screenplay which I thought they would give to someone more competent, and they said, “Nah, you can do that”.

‘So it was all a bit of an accident, to be honest.’

Rowling added said she developed the five-film story arc of Fantastic Beasts in a similar way to the original Harry Potter novels.

‘They’re intricate, but they’re exactly the same as what I did with [Harry] Potter, because I know what my end point is, I know who lives and who dies, but I don’t know absolutely every detail,’ she said.

‘Which is good because I like having fun to play and I like having the flexibility to do things, if the mood takes me.

‘So it’s not absolutely rigid but I have a good idea of what my destination is.’

Fantastic Beasts is released in UK cinemas on November 18.

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