Fantastic Beasts 3 release date and cast announced, will be set in Brazil

(Image credit: Warner Bros)

Official word has come from the Ministry of Magic, or its closest real-world equivalent, that the third installment in the Fantastic Beasts series will start filming in 2020 and will be released on November 12, 2021. According to Wizarding World the movie will swap the grey city streets of New York and Paris for sunny Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and focus on Professor Eulalie 'Lally' Hicks.

If you haven't been keeping up, Lally Hicks is a teacher at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the American equivalent of Hogwarts. We saw her briefly in Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, where she plays a key role in encouraging alchemist Nicolas Flamel to help Newt and Jacob. Last April, JK Rowling confirmed that the character had a much bigger role to play in future Fantastic Beasts films.

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Hicks is played by Jessica Williams, and she'll join the regular cast members: Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, Jude Law as Albus Dumbledore, Katherine Waterston as Tina Goldstein and the problematic Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald. David Yates returns as director, with a script by Rowling and Steve Kloves.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald ended with a battle and a twist, so there's plenty to look forward to in 2021 when the long-awaited Fantastic Beasts 3 finally arrives. 

At least you won't have to wait until 2021 to check out the best Black Friday game deals – the magic of saving money will be here before you can waggle your wand. 

Rachel Weber
Managing Editor, US

Rachel Weber is the US Managing Editor of GamesRadar+ and lives in Brooklyn, New York. She joined GamesRadar+ in 2017, revitalizing the news coverage and building new processes and strategies for the US team.