Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them proved to be a big hit for Warner Bros., grossing over $811 million worldwide and still showing in some theaters, over three months after its release. For J.K. Rowling, who claimed her first screenwriting credit with the movie, it was a gamble that paid off, big time - and with four more Fantastic Beasts movies to come, the franchise looks to be well on its way to becoming a fully fledged member of the Wizarding World that it shares with Harry Potter.

Fantastic Beasts received positive reviews in the main, and though the movie shares its universe with Harry Potter, it was sufficiently different enough, both in time setting and plot, to serve as a standalone movie. That said, fans are eagerly awaiting subsequent Fantastic Beasts films for a number of reasons, not least to see how the rise of the dark wizard Grindelwald will unfold, and how Dumbledore will be worked into the storyline. With Fantastic Beasts and Where t0 Find Them 2 due to arrive in 2018, filming for the sequel is set to begin this August.

Teasing fans about the progress of the movie on Twitter (see below), Rowling posted a picture of the screenplay, along with the words "Having a Beastly day..."

Having a Beastly day... pic.twitter.com/xRGCC9gt3B— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 27, 2017

Fantastic Beasts 2 is set to pick up a few years after the first movie, but the setting will move to Europe, namely Paris. While exact plot details are unknown, Grindelwald, Dumbledore, and Credence Barebone will be the main players. Johnny Depp and Ezra Miller will reprise their roles as Grindelwald and Credence, respectively, but Dumbledore is as yet, not cast. Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol and Dan Folger will also all return as Newt Scamander, Tina and Queenie Goldstein, and Jacob Kowalski, respectively.

We also know that Fantastic Beasts 2 will contain a larger role for Zoe Kravitz, as Leta Lestrange. In Fantastic Beasts, she only appeared in a moving picture, and Newt hinted at a difficult past between the pair; that is thought to be expanded upon and explained in the second movie. With a surname the same as the infamous dark wizard, Bellatrix, it seems likely to expect Leta to be on Grindelwald's side, possibly as a major player in his rise to power.

Rowling didn't give any more away, of course, but her tweet did serve to stir up excitement among fans, who are already riding high after the first Harry Potter related Oscar win; Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, awarded to Colleen Atwood. Hopefully more Fantastic Beasts news, including that all important casting announcement for Dumbledore, will be coming our way soon.

NEXT: What We Want to See in Fantastic Beasts 2

Source: J.K. Rowling

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