When a movie duds like Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald did, the natural thing is to get as far away from it as possible. The film sits at a lowly 36% on Rotten Tomatoes, but more than that it saw a marked drop in box office from the first movie, very nearly derailing the entire franchise. But in a new interview with Syfy, actor Dan Fogler, who plays muggle Jacob Kowalski, says fans can expect the next movie to be closer to the original.
“I can say I read the [Fantastic Beasts 3] script and the character development is really lovely and it’s very similar to the feel of the first movie, which I think is great,” Fogler said.
He continued, “It’s leading toward this massive war with the backdrop of World War II, so you can just imagine epic battle scenes are coming.”
Character development was definitely a major problem, with way too many characters and not enough time devoted to them. Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander was lost in the mix, in favor of plot twists that felt artificial and lacking in the magic we expect from the Harry Potter movies. The problem caused writer JK Rowling to take another crack at the Fantastic Beasts 3 script, necessitating a delay in production.
But then, what were we expecting Fogler to say? Nobody says “Yeah, we want the next movie to be more like the one you hated.” Of course, he wants fans to believe the magic has been recaptured, so let’s just hope he’s not pulling our wands. Fantastic Beasts 3 opens November 12th 2021.
