‘Fantastic Beasts 3’ Officially Titled ‘Secrets of Dumbledore’

WARNER Bros. officially announces that Fantastic Beasts 3, now subtitled The Secrets of Dumbledore, will arrive in theaters in April 2022.

First launching in 2016, the Fantastic Beasts films have acted as prequels to WB’s film adaptation franchise of J.K. Rowling‘s Harry Potter novels. The plots for the prequels generally center around Newt Scamander, an employee in the Beasts Division of the British Ministry of Magic, as he journeys the world chronicling various magical beasts though slowly finding himself more caught up in the ongoing war between the Ministry of Magic and those practicing dark magic.

Development on the new Fantastic Beasts was announced in late 2016 ahead of the first film’s release when WB revealed the franchise would consist of five films, with Eddie Redmayne starring in all five as Newt and David Yates attached to direct all five.

Initially intended to begin filming in early 2020, production on the threequel has experienced a number of hiccups along the way in addition to delays from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Johnny Depp, who was set to reprise his role as the villainous Gellert Grindelwald for a third time, was asked by WB to resign late last year due to personal conflicts surrounding ex wife Amber Heard and would be replaced by Mads Mikkelsen within a few weeks.

After wrapping production earlier this year, the official Twitter account for Wizarding World has revealed that Fantastic Beasts 3 will arrive in theaters on April 15, 2022. The post also announces that the threequel is officially subtitled The Secrets of Dumbledore and offers a first look at the logo for the film.  Eagle-eyed fans will be able to spot a wand carved into the “D” of Dumbledore’s name. The Elder Wand, perhaps?

Given the troublesome production the film faced, the April release date for Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore should come as a happy surprise to fans eager to watch the next installment in the franchise.

It is expected to pick up from 2018’s The Crimes of Grindelwald, which saw dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald amass more followers and pull the powerful Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) over to his side. As the entire Fantastic Beasts franchise is leading up to Grindelwald’s infamous battle with Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law), the third film is expected to further lay the groundwork for that conflict.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore is especially notable because it will feature the debut of Mads Mikkelsen as Grindelwald; he’s taking over the part from Johnny Depp, who was forced to step down last fall.

With this title, it’s clear Fantastic Beasts 3 is going all in on the controversial twist from The Crimes of Grindelwald. The 2018 film ended with the reveal that Credence is actually a long-lost Dumbledore brother named Aurelius.

It was a plot point that took many fans by surprise, since the Harry Potter series only establishes three Dumbledore sibling: Albus, Aberforth, and the late Ariana. The title The Secrets of Dumbledore all but guarantees the movie will be exploring Albus’ murky past and might also touch upon what happened with Ariana.

The Secrets of Dumbledore also hints that the Fantastic Beasts series is shifting even farther away from Newt. He will certainly continue to be a main character in the franchise, but as Dumbledore and Grindewald’s legendary battle grows ever closer, he might drift towards the background.

One has to hope that won’t happen. There are two more movies on the way following The Secrets of Dumbledore, and they each have to cover a great deal of time.

(ROHN ROMULO)