Harry Potter spinoff films to get game adaptations

Just-announced movies based on "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" will be spun into video games from Warner Bros.

(Credit: J.K. Rowling)

Ever wanted to play with the magical monsters in the Hogwarts textbook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them"? Well, soon you can.

Warner Bros. announced on Thursday a new series of Harry Potter spinoff films based on the textbook written by fictional author Newt Scamander, and said these properties will be developed into games as well.

J.K. Rowling will make her screenwriting debut for the "Fantastic Beasts" films. It will be an original story set in the wizarding world that's neither a sequel nor a prequel to the Harry Potter universe, but rather an extension of the fiction.

"The laws and customs of the hidden magical society will be familiar to anyone who has read the Harry Potter books or seen the films, but Newt's story will start in New York, 70 years before Harry's gets under way," Rowling said in a statement.