“Fantastic Beasts” Roundup: Music, Magic, and April Fools!

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Since our last Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them roundup, we’ve discovered a few new things about the film and also enjoyed some interviews with cast members.

We learned that Eddie Redmayne (Newt Scamander) will be presenting an exclusive clip of Fantastic Beasts on April 10 at the MTV Music Awards (watch this space for more information since we’ll be posting the clip as soon as it’s available!). We’re sure that you’re just as excited as we are to see another clip from the film.

We also heard from Carmen Ejogo, who plays the MACUSA President, Madam Seraphina Picquery. In an interview with Vogue, Ejogo praised her time filming Fantastic Beasts and how exciting it was to be a part of the film.

In the meantime, I’m playing the president of a wizard association in the new Harry Potter movie [Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them]. We filmed in England, and it comes out in November. It was very exciting to be part of that legacy and to be part of the expansion of that aesthetic. I mean, on the topic of diversity, there’s a whole swathe of children who didn’t know they could engage in that because it was a very white, British thing. I feel very lucky—I’ve had a chance to morph and shape-shift throughout my career, […] so to be a part of broadening this world in this way is very exciting to me.

J.K. Rowling revealed that she’d seen a first cut of the movie.

And Colin Farrell (Graves) appeared on the Late Late Show with James Corden, where he spoke about filming Fantastic Beasts – and getting used to using a wand.

Plus, this week we got news that a composer for Fantastic Beasts has been appointed. James Newton Howard has previously worked on films such as the Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Maleficent and TV show ER.

James Newton Howard Composer Fantastic Beasts

We also learned about the Fantastic Beasts movie tie-in books that will be released starting this fall, inspired by both the Fantastic Beasts film and the Harry Potter films. What kind of tie-in books would you like to see?

And finally, SpeakBeasty, MuggleNet’s Fantastic Beasts podcast, joined in with the MuggleNet April Fools’ fun and posted a special bonus episode thanks to Professor Umbridge and Mr. Filch. If you missed it, you can catch up here, and don’t forget that a new episode of SpeakBeasty is released this weekend!

The MuggleNet April Fools’ pranks this year also included the news that the release of Fantastic Beasts was going to be pushed back – but we’re glad that this was just an April Fool, and the film will still be released on November 18!

What has been your Fantastic Beasts highlight from the last few weeks? What do you hope the upcoming trailer might show? Let us know in the comments!