Could More 'Harry Potter' Spinoffs Be On the Way?

Warner Bros. pulled a fast one on us when it revealed that J.K. Rowling would be writing the screenplay for a film adaptation of her 'Harry Potter' companion book 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' with the potential of producing a new film series around its fictional author, Newt Scamander. With the announcement, the studio revealed plans to further expand the 'Harry Potter' brand, but will that entail more spinoff films to come?

In addition to trademarking 'Fantastic Beasts' for everything from theme parks to the films themselves, Bleeding Cool reports that Warner Bros. has also trademarked additional 'Harry Potter' properties 'Tales of Beedle the Bard' and 'Quidditch Through the Ages.' The former was originally a fictional book of stories that appeared in the seventh book and helped the trio learn of 'The Deathly Hallows,' while the latter was another companion book often packaged with 'Fantastic Beasts.' 'Quidditch Through the Ages' is written by the fictional author Kennilworthy Whisp, a Quidditch expert, and is written as a Hogwarts School of Witchraft and Wizardry textbook come to life. The new trademark deals also includes the Quidditch teams Wimbourne Wasps, Chudley Cannons and Kenmare Kestrels.

While this does not officially mean Warner Bros. is actually moving ahead with more films, these trademarks do help position the studio well if it decided to produce and distribute an adaptation of sorts. Though, we still have a ways to go before 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' starts production and can better gauge fans' interest in seeing an entirely new film series. But with the first eight 'Harry Potter' movies being the highest-grossing film franchise of all time, the prospect of raking in even more dough is almost too tempting.