To celebrate the final trailer for “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” Warner Bros. hosted an epic fan event in New York City on Monday, Sept. 24.
It was the most unique and fun film event I have ever attended. Full disclosure: I am a huge Harry Potter fan. A group of esteemed bloggers, reporters, youtubers, producers, hosts, social media gurus, instagram stars and Potterheads united for a glorious adventure.
Before we started the day, we received a message from Eddie Redmayne from London. He expressed his sadness about not being able to celebrate the final trailer with us in person, but he predicted that, “There are some extraordinarily magical things in store!”
Today we will be headed on a magical adventure to celebrate the final @FantasticBeasts trailer! Here’s a message from #eddieredmayne @wbpictures #wandsready pic.twitter.com/d2gxGlbvAK
— The Knockturnal (@_TheKnockturnal) September 24, 2018
The itinerary we received was a bit vague because there were many surprises on the horizon. Our first stop was Brasserie Ruhlmann Restaurant. We were informed that the entire group would get to take a photo with the queen herself J.K. Rowling. After her appearance at The Today Show, Rowling came to meet us. After we took the group photo, Rowling hugged some of her fans, shook hands and thanked us for coming. She suggested that we pay very close attention to the end of the trailer. A few guests did start crying about being in Rowling’s presence understandably. Our epic photo is below:
We just met @jk_rowling! @wbpictures @FantasticBeasts #wandsready final trailer drops tomorrow #FantasticBeasts pic.twitter.com/rTevIJVgru
— The Knockturnal (@_TheKnockturnal) September 24, 2018
Next, the Fantastic Beasts AR Effect launched on instagram. If you follow @fantasticbeasts, you too can choose a wand and cast a spell in your next instagram post. It looks super cool. Then, we headed to The Whitby Hotel to see the final trailer. Before we sat down, we were each handed a Crimes of Grindelwald poster. This wasn’t just any poster. J.K. Rowling herself autographed each one!
Thank you @jk_rowling @wbpictures for the signed @FantasticBeasts poster! We will treasure it forever. #wandsready #TheCrimesofGrindelwald pic.twitter.com/bTpsZ1t4LX
— The Knockturnal (@_TheKnockturnal) September 24, 2018
We got to view the trailer three times. This next installment of Fantastic Beasts is definitely darker and the stakes are much higher. We were on the edge of our seats. Dumbledore tasks Newt with tracking down and defeating Grindelwald. The surprise guests at this stop were Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler and new cast members Claudia Kim and Callum Turner. They introduced the trailer to us. They also sat down and viewed the trailer with us. They participated in a Q&A before and after the trailer screening.
When asked if fans will get to see more of Jacob and Queenie’s romance, Dan Fogler replied, “There are some lovely scenes that are reminiscent of the original movie.” He spoke a bit more about the conflicts everyone faces in this film. “The first movie is all of us meeting and coming together and this one is we are dispersed and trying to get the band back together, so there’s a lot of chasing down your lover … which makes for very exciting storytelling.” He called it The Empire Strikes Back of sequels.
When asked if Dumbledore and Grindelwald’s romance is explored, Ezra pointed to the scene in the trailer where Albus sees Gellert in the Mirror of Erised. The mirror shows, “nothing more or less than the deepest most desperate desire of your heart,” Ezra said.
When asked what most surprised them after seeing the final product, Miller and Fogler both spoke on seeing the special effects realized. They worked with puppets, CGI and green screen, so seeing all of the special effects come to life was truly magical.
Callum Turner plays Theseus Scamander, who is Newt’s brother. We are introduced to him the trailer. Turner also revealed his character is engaged to Leta Lestrange, Newt’s former love. We see Leta played by Zoe Kravitz in the trailer as well. Turner spoke on how he holds his wand. He holds it between his index in middle finger. He says he was just trying to be different.
We learn in the trailer that Claudia Kim is in fact Nagini as fan sites theorized. “I’m still nervous … I’ve never said the name,” Kim said.
Callum got to film at Hogwarts. Ezra was sad he couldn’t. “It was kind of special. It was the original walkway where Harry Potter and Ron and Hermione were always conspiring. That one, we shot there,” he said.
When asked if they have special intel from J.K. Rowling about their characters’ futures, Ezra coyly replied, “some of us may.”
At this stop, we were also able to participate in the Bubble Photo opp and take selfies with the cast in attendance. Everyone was super warm and excited to hang out with us.
Watch the final trailer below and be sure to check out the film on November 16.
