J.K. Rowling Is Already Writing The Fantastic Beasts 3 Script

Even though we're still six months out from the release of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, J.K. Rowling is hard at work on the screenplay for the third movie in the franchise. The Harry Potter spinoff series focuses on former Hogwarts student Newt Scamander, played by Eddie Redmayne. The series has allowed die hard Potterheads to return to the wizarding world they loved so much in the original series, while also earning new fans who are being newly introduced to Rowling's magic.

The first movie in the spinoff series, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, debuted in theaters in November 2016 and was a huge box office success. It teased its sequel during the last frames of the movie, showing dark wizard Gellert Gindelwald, played by controversial casting choice Johnny Depp, captured by the Magical Congress of the United States of America, thanks to Scamander. In Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald fans are introduced to a young Albus Dumbledore, played by Jude Law, who enlists the help of Scamander to find the dangerous dark wizard after he escapes custody.

In an online Q&A hosted on her website, Rowling recently revealed that she's been very busy lately, not only working on new novels but also on the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts 3, Variety reports. “I’ve just finished the fourth Galbraith novel, ‘Lethal White,’ and I’m now writing the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts 3,” Rowling wrote. Robert Galbraith is Rowling's pseudonym she uses for her crime novels. Rowling also serves as one of the producers on the Fantastic series and told fans exactly how much say that producer credit gives her in the final product:

"Warner Bros and David Yates, the director, have always let me have my say, though not necessarily the final word. That’s true of all the producers, of whom I’m only one: our input is taken seriously but it is very much a collaborative effort. The director is ultimately responsible for everything that’s seen on the screen. As the screenwriter, the majority of my input comes at an earlier stage."

Fans were thrilled when they learned that Rowling would be returing to the world of Hogwarts and the wizarding world she so expertly crafted when she wrote the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and even happier when it was revealed the series wouldn't be a trilogy as first expected, but a series of five movies. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is already thrilling fans with the casting of Law as a young Dumbledore, one of the most beloved characters in the Potter series, with many hoping we'll meet even more younger versions of Potter characters in the upcoming films. Zoe Kravitz has also joined the cast as Leta Lestrange, an ex-love interest for Scamander who also happens to be an ancestor of Potter character Bellatrix Lestrange.

Although Rowling is busy writing the third movie in the Fantastic franchise, she did reveal that there will be a new Rowling series for young readers coming as well. When asked what she'll be working on after she completes the Fantastic Beasts 3 script she wrote; "After that I’ll be writing another book for children. I’ve been playing with the (non-Harry Potter/wizarding world) story for about six years, so it’s about time I get it down on paper." And fans can't wait for it.