Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald. 11/16/18 (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

How is this different for you than the Star Wars prequels, which I recall you like, where it's all leading to Anakin becoming Darth Vader, and we all knew going in that that was going to happen

I think it works because George Lucas created a compelling drama that was so much larger than just the question of Vadar's origin. Coming into the prequels, all we knew from the original trilogy was that Anakin had been trained by Obi-Wan, but had been seduced to the dark side by the emperor. We didn't really know what that seduction entailed. I also found the world building in the prequels to be thrilling.

It really depends on how Rowling structures the future installments of Fantastic Beasts. If the structure is all about leading into a final battle where the outcome isn't in doubt, but the movies are built around a hook of "what will happen when good and evil finally meet?" that's just not very interesting dramatically. If the question that drives the narrative forward is about something different, then it'll play much differently.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If the question that drives the narrative forward is about something different, then it'll play much differently.

Good point.

I also wonder how she is going to keep this going for three more films after this one. How is it possible for Dumbledore and Grindlewald not to met until movie five? Dumbledore says in the trailer to Newt, "I can't move against Grindlewald. It has to be you." Why? And how is that going to change by 1945? It better not just be something lame like, "I can't bear to face my ex-crush."

 

[Jake Lipson]

As they did last time, Scholastic will be releasing J.K. Rowling's screenplay for the film on the day the movie come out. They recently revealed the cover:

Amazon is taking pre-orders now, but if you want it, be careful. They have a hardcover edition for $14.88 here (https://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Be...-2-spell&keywords=fanastic+beasts+grindlewald) and also a library binding edition for $19.99, but the library binding edition is coming up more frequently in search results.

I bought the standard hardcover $14.88 one.

Unfortunately, the screenplay released last time was edited to match the theatrical release version of the movie -- meaning it doesn't include any writing she did for scenes that were deleted -- but I still think it's worth having and am looking forward to having the new one too.

JKR also recently said that she finished her next "Robert Galbraith" crime novel, Lethal White, which presumably should be released at some point this year, although there's no publication date for it yet. And, she's now working on the script for Fantastic Beasts 3.

https://movieweb.com/fantastic-beasts-3-script-begins-jk-rowling/

I wonder when we'll get a second trailer? WB has Ocean's 8 out next week and Tag the week after that. Neither one of those seems to overlap with the audience for this necessarily, but you never know.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

The cynical thought I had seeing the trailer for this after seeing Solo in theaters is that cinema has become so franchise-driven that movies like this exist primarily because the requisite number of months have gone by and the studio spreadsheet needs product, not because it's a story that demands to be told. Like, if there's a great idea for a movie in the franchise every six years, but Warner Bros. needs a Wizarding World movie every two years, we're going to get two filler movies in between just to keep the schedule.

 

[Jake Lipson]

If the writer were not JKR I would be inclined to agree with you

But it is.

The time she sold out (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child) was authorized, but not written, by her, and she hasn't let WB touch that (yet.)

I'm still super excited to see what she's come up with next for this film.

But it's also interesting to me that she is proceeding on the screenplay for #3 without waiting to see how audiences respond to this installment. On the one hand, if they want to maintain every two years, it will be important for them to get going on filming part 3 next year to make November 2020, so that does require a certain level of speed on JKR's part.

But on the other hand, movies aren't like books where she can write anything she wants and have it sell. There's a very specific, very large price tag attached to one of these movies, and WB is going to need audiences to keep buying tickets. That means to some degree they are going to have to consider what the audience wants, and it's interesting that they're pressing ahead without seeing how the fans respond to this film, and particularly Depp as Grindlewald in it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Amazon took down the listing for the screenplay book which I linked in post #63 and relisted it on a new product page. This gave me the chore of cancelling the first order and re-ordering. The old one was $14.88 and the new one is $14.99, which is a mild annoyance, but oh well.

Here is the new pre-order link:

https://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Be...F8&qid=1530744825&sr=8-1&keywords=grindlewald

I wonder if we'll get a new trailer this month at Comic-Con?

 

[Malcolm R]

Fantastic Beasts 2 goes back to Hogwarts:

http://ew.com/movies/2018/07/12/young-newt-fantastic-beasts-the-crimes-grindelwald/

Jude Law as Dumbledore; Joshua Shea as young Newt.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Cool photo. I wonder how the flashbacks will be woven into the storytelling. Harry Potter never had flashbacks for their own sake; on the occasion that she used them in the books, it was always Harry watching something, like Harry going into the diary and watching Riddle's flashback, or Snape giving him the memory which he then uses the Pensive to watch, or Dumbledore telling Harry about meeting young Tom Riddle which we then saw. There weren't freestanding scenes without the context of a person in the present day being told the story, if that makes sense. So it will be interesting to see what device brings in flashbacks here, or if they really might just be freestanding scenes, which would be a new tactic for JKR.

Also, I hope this is ramping up to the release of a new trailer soon. It will probably happen at Comic-Con, but I saw the old one on Ant-Man and the Wasp last weekend, and I thought, "We're really due for another one now."

 

[Jake Lipson]

Here's an interview Erza Miller (Credence) did where he talks about his character in the new film vs. the next film. The teases are vague enough that there aren't plot spoilers, but it gives a sense of progression from the first film to the second. The questions are in Japanese, but his answers are in English, so you can figure out vaguely what he's been asked.

 

[Malcolm R]

That'll be interesting, as there's no indication that Credence is still alive at the end of the first film.

 

[Jake Lipson]

there's no indication that Credence is still alive at the end of the first film.

Yes there is. It's super subtle, and it would be very possible to miss it, but you can see some of the stuff he transformed into sneaking away for one shot at the very end of that scene where he is seemingly destroyed. There was also supposedly a deleted scene of him getting on a boat and leaving London, which got cut. I think it would have been smarter to leave that in so that audiences are clearer that he's still alive, personally.

 

[Jake Lipson]

That'll be interesting, as there's no indication that Credence is still alive at the end of the first film.

I looked this scene up in the published screenplay. It says:

Aurors continue to aim spells at the Obscureus, their efforts unrelenting and brutal. Under this pressure, the Obscureus finally seems to implode -- a white ball of magical light taking over from the black mass. The force of this change sends Tina, Newt, and the Aurors stumbling backward. All power subsides. Only small tatters of black matter are left, floating through the air like feathers.

So it certainly does not say he died. I agree they could have been more clear about this, but if you look in the film, you can see some of the black matter kind of floating away unnoticed.

Additionally, this raises the question of whether Credence is aware of Graves being unmasked as Grindlewald or not, since that happens after he seems to disappear. Graves betrayed his trust in the first film, but if he does not know that they are the same person, it's possible that Grindlewald could approach him as Grindlewald, without the baggage of their preexisting relationship.

 

[dpippel]

New Comic-Con trailer:

 

[Jake Lipson]

I really dug that trailer.

I'm putting the following in spoiler brackets only for those who haven't watched the trailer, but if you have, it's only discussing the trailer and there's no additional spoiler information beyond what's already seen in there.

Spoiler

Dumbledore looks into the Mirror of Erised and sees Grindlewald. In light of the earlier discussion about whether or not the film will acknowledge Dumbledore being gay and having feelings for Grindlewald, I think this scene pretty much settles that debate. For Grindlewald to be Dumbledore's heart's desire, that's a pretty clear and definitive statement about him and how he views that relationship. It will get the romance into the film in a major way without Dumbledore having to spell out in dialogue, "I was in love with Grindlewald back in the day," or whatever.

A friend of mine pointed out that they could always remove this scene from the final cut, and I do know scenes in trailers don't always make it in, but I think this one will. The Mirror of Erised is a major piece of Harry Potter history and iconography, and I don't think JKR would have brought it back if it was something minor that could be thrown away on the cutting room floor. It's probably a significant part of the story. Also, it's definitely not a coincidence that we are seeing it again in the same movie where we meet Nicholas Flamel, since both of them are callbacks to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

 

[Tino]

New trailer looks great.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Cinemark is filling an empty week in their schedule with a re-release of the Harry Potter films, plus Fantastic Beasts:

https://cinemark.com/wizardingworld

 

[Josh Steinberg]

$25 for all previous 9 films in XD, which is their homegrown "premium large format" flavor? Considering a single ticket to an XD movie can be $20-25 depending on the location, that's a phenomenal deal. We don't have Cinemark in NYC, but if one of the chains we do have offered the films in a premium format at that price, I'd be all over it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I think this pricing is an acknowledgement that the previous films are widely owned and aired on TV and they just can't charge full price for nine films which are now library titles and expect people to come. Also, since they're doing it in a traditionally lower-attended week without a big blockbuster opening in their xD format, they probably think doing this at the discounted price will get more butts in seats than a random holdover film at that point.

When AMC did this a couple years ago in advance of the release of the first Fantastic Beasts film, they wanted full IMAX price for each film, which was just too much. I didn't want to have to cherry pick which films to see in theaters again and which to skip, so I just skipped the whole lot.

We do have Cinemark, and I will very strongly consider it, but will have to see what the schedule is when they put it up. It's difficult for me to go during the week, but i'd love to do this on the weekend. We'll see.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

When AMC did this a couple years ago in advance of the release of the first Fantastic Beasts film, they wanted full IMAX price for each film, which was just too much.

I think, at least on my end, that they did offer a pass for a discounted price that would allow you to see all of the films. But if you went the route of the pass, you couldn't reserve your seats until the day of the show when you arrived at the theater, while anyone who purchased tickets in advance individually could reserve their seats ahead of time. I don't think it sold out so it probably wasn't an issue. I think they did the Harry Potter marathon at the same time the other IMAX was doing a marathon of space-themed releases (Gravity, Interstellar, Star Trek '09, etc.). I did catch a couple of the space movies but it was the week before my wedding so there just wasn't any free time - I felt like I was getting away with something sneaking in Gravity and Interstellar.

I don't think it'll be in IMAX in the same time period that Cinemark is showing them this year because it appears that the remaining 15/70 capable IMAX locations will be showing The Dark Knight for its 10th anniversary, and there are strong indications that the digital IMAX locations will be showing 2001: A Space Odyssey.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Here, there was no multi-film pass. And yeah, it says "Exclusively at Cinemark," so I think you're right that IMAX isn't participating this time.

Cinemark also did the same thing last year with a bunch of Marvel films (although not in sequence), so they appear to have this weekend marked as "Bring popular older films back because there's really nothing else week."