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"The first film in the planned Harry Potter spinoff trilogy will arrive in theaters on Nov. 18, 2016, a Warner Bros. spokesperson confirmed to Mashable on Tuesday. \nAuthor J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. first revealed the spinoff in September when she announced she was writing the screenplays for a series of films based on Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, her 2001 book set in the Harry Potter universe. In March, we learned the series would be a trilogy \u2014 void of prequels or sequels \u2014 initially set in New York roughly seven decades before Harry Potter's saga starts.\nSee also: Channing Tatum Will Play Gambit in Future 'X-Men' Films\nRowling, who released seven main Harry Potter books between 1997 and 2007 and inspired eight films based on those novels, plans to adapt Fantastic Beasts in order to bring its main character and \u201Cmagizoologist\u201D Newt Scamander to the big screen. \nFantastic Beasts is also a fictional textbook used at Hogwarts, the series' school of witchcraft and wizardry. In Rowling's fictional world,  Fantastic Beasts is a book about magical animals and the study, known as \"magizoology,\" of those creatures.\nThe Nov. 18 release date is the same date that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth movie in the series, was released in 2005. This spinoff will hit theaters exactly 11 years after that. \nThe cast has yet to be revealed, though Rowling has given some insight into project.\n\"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,\" she previously said in a statement.\nBONUS: 'Harry Potter' Actors: Then and Now\n\n\nHarry Potter Then and Now\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRupert Grint (Ron Weasley)\n\nWe fondly remember young Ron's crippling fear of spiders and ability to be eating in many as scenes as possible. Most recently, Grint made his on-stage debut as a drug-dealing bad boy in \"Mojo\" -- a far cry from the wide-eyed face on the left. \nImage: Nicolas Asfouri/GettyImage: Tim P. Whitby/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEmma Watson (Hermione Granger)\n\nWhile Watson has grown up, she still hasn't lost touch with the endearingly dorky Hermione. Watson's latest endeavor is a role in the upcoming Biblical epic, \"Noah.\"\nImage: George de Sota/GettyImage: Dave Kotinsky/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTom Felton (Draco Malfoy)\n\nThe actor responsible for everyone's favorite antagonist is soon to be starring in the film \"In Secret\" as a sickly man with whom his cousin is forced into a loveless marriage. When's Felton going to get to play a good guy?\nImage: Anthony Harvey/GettyImage: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHarry Melling (Dudley Dursley)\n\nIf there was any child in the Harry Potter franchise easier to hate than Malfoy, it was Harry's chubby, obnoxious cousin Dudley. Since the series ended, Melling has undergone both weight and fame loss, and he couldn't be happier about it. \nImage: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/YouTubeImage: Garreth Cattermole/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nBonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley)\n\nThe younger Weasley sister who eventually steals Harry Potter's heart is now set to star in a comedy about small-town beauty pageants. \nImage: Thos Robinson/GettyImage: Frederick M. Brown/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDevon Murray (Seamus Finnigan)\n\nThe clumsy kid who's notorious for having potions explode in his face is now a full-grown man with stubble. Murray hasn't done any acting since the Potter films, but he's still an active participant in promotional events for the franchise.\nImages: Harry Potter Wiki\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKatie Leung (Cho Chang)\n\nFans will surely remember the exhilarating and hilariously awkward kiss shared between Harry and Cho in Order of the Phoenix. These days, Leung is a featured character on Hulu's mini-drama \"Run.\"\nImage: MJ Kim/GettyImage: Exposay.com/Landmark Photos\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMatthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom)\n\nLewis' transformation from the gawky Neville of the early films into a dashing young man gave hope to bumbling adolescents everywhere. Career-wise, Lewis recently took the leading role in \"The Rise,\" a crime movie about revenge and drug kingpins. \nImage: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/YouTubeImage: AFP/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAlfie Enoch (Dean Thomas)\n\nThe loyal Gryffindor peer and Quidditch teammate of Harry and Ron hasn't done much acting since the Potter films, although he did appear in an episode of BBC's drama \"Broadchurch.\"\nImage: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/YouTubeImage: Gareth Cattermole/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEvanna Lynch (Luna Lovegood)\n\nThe Hogwarts student who no one could ever really figure out recently starred in the short \"It Don't Come Easy\" as a shy wallflower, demonstrating that several of the franchise's actors are partially tied to their Hogwarts counterpart for the foreseeable future. \nImage: MJ Kim/GettyImage: Danny E. Martindale/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJames and Olive Phelps (Fred and George Weasley)\n\nOne would think the mischievous pair of twins might want to blaze their own trails after being an on-screen duo for so long. Or they could star as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in an upcoming production of Hamlet and continue developing their excellent chemistry. That works, too.\nImage: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone/YouTubeImage: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDaniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)\n\nWhat more is there to say about The Boy Who Lived? Radcliffe has begun the impossible task of separating himself from the iconic role by buddying up with John Hamm in the series \"A Young Doctor's Notebook.\" \nImage: Nicolas Asfouri/GettyImage: Dave Kotinsky/Getty\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHave something to add to this story? Share it in the comments."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2014/05/13/harry-potter-spinoff-trilogy-films-release-date/>