Ever since the final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was published in 2007, J. K. Rowling has been providing fans of the bespectacled boy wizard with a steady drip-feed of new information about the magical world.

First there was Pottermore, the interactive online game which allows fans to discover the backstories of their favourite characters. Then came a smash-hit stage production in the form of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – plus the ‘Hogwarts textbook’ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the movie adaptation of which is set for release in November.

And now, J. K. Rowling has confirmed that there’s much more magic to come – revealing that there will be five films in the Fantastic Beasts spin-off series. 

Rowling also hinted that all of the films will feature a young Albus Dumbledore and his best friend-turned-nemesis, the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald. 

“We always knew that it was going to be more than one movie – we knew that from the start,” said the author at a Warner Bros. event in London on Thursday, Variety reports.

Read more: Watch the first trailer for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them right here

Rowling added that she and the Fantastic Beasts team originally planned to make three movies, but that she now expects the series to be even longer.

“We set a trilogy as a sort of placeholder, because we knew there would be more than one movie,” said Rowling. “But I’ve now done the plotting properly, so we’re pretty sure it’s going to be five movies.”

Rowling wrote the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts – the first time she has turned her hand to scriptwriting.

“So I learned how to write a screenplay while writing a screenplay,” she said, adding: “I wouldn’t recommend it!”

Read more: J. K. Rowling just published the first piece in her History of Magic in North America series

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them will not feature an appearance from “the boy who lived” – although it is set in the same wizarding universe occupied by Harry, Hermione and Ron. Set in 1920s New York, the movie stars Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander, an introverted British “magizoologist”, whose job it is to research and rescue magical creatures. British actress Carmen Ejojo will play the President of the Magical Congress of the United States of America, while Colin Farrell stars as the US Director of Magical Security. 

Wands at the ready...

Images: Rex Features, Warner Bros.