Last fall,Harry Potter fansgot to explore a whole new timeframe in this magical universe with the spin-offFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, which earned $229.8 million domestically and $801.5 million worldwide, from a $180 million budget. It was recently confirmed that this movie is actually the first in a series of five epic movies, withFantastic Beasts 2already set for release on July 22, 2025. It was announced shortly after the first movie’s release thatZoe Kravitzwill be back as Leta Lestrange, with the actress recently teasing that she’ll have a much bigger role this time around.
Collidercaught up withZoe Kravitz, who was promoting her upcoming HBO TV seriesBig Little Lies. When the talk eventually turned toFantastic Beasts 2, the actress revealed that there is a “complex relationship” betweenLeta LestrangeandEddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander. Here’s what she had to say below, when asked how much larger her role is for this upcoming sequel.
“I think there’s a few ahead. The relationship between Leta and Newt Scamander is a complex relationship, so I think there will be a lot of time for that to grow and develop, which will be fun. I know nothing! I have an idea, based off of when I auditioned, but I know nothing. Even when I went to go do my chemistry read withEddie Redmayne, he was trying to help me piece together what was happening in the scene that we were reading. He doesn’t get to see anything either, so he was like, ‘I think based off of this line and this line, and what we shot here and here, this is what’s going on.’ We had to guess. It was funny to watch him, trying to piece it all together.”
It was confirmed in November, just before the release ofFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, thatJohnny Deppis portraying the iconic dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who was once a friend of Albus Dumbledore. There have also been rumors that the story may explore Dumbledore’s sexuality, whileJared Harrisrevealed in a recent interview that he is being considered for the young Dumbledore role in the sequel. But that hasn’t been confirmed yet. When asked if she has already started filming this sequel yet, the actress explained that filming isn’t slated to begin until this summer.
“No, that starts in June or July, I think. It’s sometime in the summer. I’m very excited. The one day I was on set for that, and also for my audition process, being able to work withEddie RedmayneandDavid Yateswas incredible. The script was very under wraps, so even signing onto it, I hadn’t read the script. I just went off of who was involved, andJ.K. Rowlingand theHarry Potterfilms, so I knew it was going to be incredible, especially with how involvedJ.K.is. And then, I got to see the film, after I was already signed on, and it exceeded my expectations. That was a really interesting experience, to sit back and watch a movie that you loved, and then get to walk out and say, ‘I get to be in that!’ It’s a very cool thing.”
DirectorDavid Yatesalso recently confirmed that the story forFantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2will take place in Paris, with the director describing the story as “very ambitious.” The sequel will reportedly take the franchise in a “new direction,” although no further story details have been revealed at this time.Fantastic Beasts 2doesn’t have any direct competition on July 24, 2025 but it does fall between a pair of animated projects, Universal’sDr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmasand Disney’sGigantic.
