Fantastic Beasts 4 Not Greenlit Yet, Depends On Dumbledore Box Office

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Warner Bros. hasn't officially greenlit Fantastic Beasts 4 yet, as the studio is reportedly waiting to see how Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore performs at the box office. The Harry Potter prequel franchise began in 2016 with Eddie Redmayne starring as magizoologist Newt Scamander. After a good response to the first film, Warner Bros. announced plans for five Fantastic Beasts movies. However, controversy has continued to surround the franchise behind the scenes, and a much poorer reception for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald left its future up in the air.

Over three films, the Fantastic Beasts franchise has noticeably transformed itself from a series focused on Newt, other new characters, and magical creatures to a true Harry Potter prequel that is heavily tied to the known characters. Despite Warner Bros.' hope that this would bring more love to the magical franchise,Crimes of Grindelwald landed harsh critical reviews and became the lowest-grossing movie in the saga. WB repeatedly delayed and reworked Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore due to COVID-19, but also in an attempt to course-correct the beloved franchise and save future plans.

Related: How Fantastic Beasts 3 Can Save The Harry Potter Prequel Series

Now, it appears that the studio is still being cautious with the franchise's future beyond Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. A report from Variety notes that Warner Bros. does not yet have a script for Fantastic Beasts 4, and the plans for five films are up in the air. Warner Bros. is reportedly waiting to see how Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore's box office performs before making any decisions. The movie has already made $58 million overseas, but it is