Fantastic Beasts franchise will be 5 films

New York— JK Rowling's Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them isn't going to be a trilogy, it's going to be a pentalogy.

At a fan event for the upcoming film in London on Thursday, the author revealed that the budding franchise will now stretch to five films. The first, starring Eddie Redmayne, opens 18 November.

The announcement, which Warner Bros confirmed, immediately fueled conjecture that the Harry Potter prequel, set decades before Potter's birth, could lead right up to the young wizard.

The second Fantastic Beasts is already in pre-production, and due in theatres November 2018.