'Fantastic Beasts' Finally Has a Release Date...

We're not entirely sure the fact that Harry Potter is getting an extended big screen life through Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has really sunk in yet. Is this really happening?? Who will cameo? How will J.K. Rowling's voice translate to the screen without Harry and his friends as emotional anchors? We have a lot of questions. We also now have a Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them release date.

Mark your calendars for November 18, 2016, everybody, because that is when the next addition to the Harry Potter universe will hit theaters. That also means that the fall of 2016 in general will likely feature a lot more J.K. Rowling in our lives once the press tour really gets going, so it's probably best to gird yourself against the best ("Rowling finally announces a Marauders prequel!") and the worst ("More couples you love should have never gotten together!") of the possibilities.

Now that a release date's been announced we can also start mentally preparing ourselves for when casting kicks into high gear — and when they hire a director before that. We've already let our picks for candidates be known, so now all that's left is to sit back and wait. And hey, it's not like we haven't already stretched our waiting-for-Harry-Potter muscles a ton before this.