Many life-long Harry Potter fans can’t believe it’s already been over two years since The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the final installment in the acclaimed Harry Potter series, hit theatres and officially closed the book on the highest grossing movie series of all time (roughly $7.7 billion).  This left millions of fans not knowing what to do with their spare time. But JK Rowling has decided to reopen the book and write just a little bit more. On September 12, a spinoff, entitled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, was announced by Warner Bros., according to theverge.com.

The movie will be written by JK Rowling and take place 70 years before the journey of Harry Potter began. It will follow Newt Scamander, a fictional character in the Harry Potter universe who wrote a book (same name as the movie title) based on the experiences he has in the movie; a book that is one of the textbooks Harry uses while at Hogwarts.

Producer David Heyman, who also produced the original eight Harry Potter movies, spoke about the movie in an interview with EW.com, “It’s incredibly exciting, she (Rowling) doesn’t have to go back to this world, but something pulled her back. This is not Harry Potter. This is not Harry, Ron, and Hermione. This is a separate story within a universe related to the Potter universe.”

I decided to hit the halls of Elder to see what the students thought of the spinoff and whether or not they will go see it when it comes out.

Junior Andrew Humphries, a fan of the series and a good friend of mine, had this to say on the issue.

“I do think it’s a good idea. It could explain more about the wizard world and give a clearer view to it. Since the books and movies are centered around Harry, they never really explained a lot about why the world works the way it does or how. I have gone with my family to see the other movies and I think we will this one.”

One of my friends at Mercy, Maddie Spetz, is the biggest Harry Potter fan I know and is THE go to source for anything and everything about it, so getting her input was a no brainer.

“I mean it’s a good idea for the movie production company because they can gain a lot of extra revenue. I personally think it’s going too far. I mean the story ended and there was never intended to be another movie. I think it’s just a way for them to relive the days when they could make billions of dollars from one movie series. I will definitely watch it.”

Junior Drew Lammers gave his thoughts on the idea. He wasn’t a huge Potter fan but when you finish an article at 11 o’clock the night before it’s due and there’s only so many people on Facebook, sometimes you just have to improvise. Plus anyone that knows him knows that Drew is the biggest sneakerhead at Elder, making whatever he says automatically valid and nullifies any sort of argument.

“That (the spinoff) doesn’t sound appealing to me. I won’t be seeing it because I’m not a big fan.”

Some big shout outs to Drew, Maddie and Andrew for the interviews!

I think that it is a good way for Warner Bros. to make extra cash but at the same time will be nothing compared to Rowling’s seven book legacy that is Harry Potter. I think that she is taking a big risk by writing the spinoff, because either the movie will be a huge success and she will receive more praise, or it will fail and add a blemish to her, so far, perfect record. But whether you like the idea or not, it will bring in big bucks for Warner Bros and will show us whether Rowling has a little bit of magic left in her wand.