Fantastic Beasts 4 has reportedly been banished to development hell after the IP floundered with recent releases. Although J.K. Rowling, the author and screenwriter, initially outlined a series of five movies, the director has recently delivered disheartening news to fans regarding the next installment.
In a recent interview on the Inside Total Film podcast, series director David Yates revealed that development for the fourth and fifth movies is on pause. He is taking a break from the series but is positive that Newt Scamander will be making a return in the future.
"With Beasts for a minute, it's all just parked," Yates shared. "We got to the end of [the third film, 2020's Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore] and we're all so proud of that movie, and when it went out into the world, we just needed to sort of stop and pause, and take it easy."
He adds, "I'm sure at some point, Newt may well be back. Who can tell? We haven't had any in-depth conversations." It isn't the first time that Yates talked about potentially not returning to the Fantastic Beast series, either.