Fantastic Beasts and where to cancel them

With some cast members in disgrace and others at odds with creator JK Rowling

It is in this volatile climate that Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, the third in the Harry Potter spin-off series, is being released. The movie begins with the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (played by Mads Mikkelsen) slinking into a tearoom, his nose twitching. “Can you smell it?” he hisses. “The stench?” He is referring to the aroma of the muggles – non-magic folk, that is – seated all around him, but anyone who has been paying attention to the fortunes of the once-invulnerable Wizarding World would be forgiven for reading the line as a commentary on the franchise itself.