AceShowbiz -

New characters coming to the "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2" were revealed on Monday, July 3 as principal photography started at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden outside London. The as-yet-untitled film is directed by David Yates.

Warner Bros. offered new plot details that would see young Dumbledore (Jude Law) team with his former student Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to thwart Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp). Callum Turner will play Newt's older brother, Theseus Scamander, while Zoe Kravitz returns as Leta Lestrange.

The sequel expands the Wizarding World, moving from New York to London and on to Paris - and promises "some surprising nods to the Harry Potter stories that will delight fans of the books and film series."

J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for the film, which opens in 1927, a few months after Newt helped to unveil and capture Grindelwald. "However, as he promised he would, Grindelwald has made a dramatic escape and has been gathering more followers to his cause-elevating wizards above all non-magical beings. The only one who might be able to stop him is the wizard he once called his dearest friend, Albus Dumbledore," read the logline.

"But Dumbledore will need help from the wizard who had thwarted Grindelwald once before, his former student Newt Scamander," it continued, "The adventure reunites Newt with Tina, Queenie and Jacob, but his mission will also test their loyalties as they face new perils in an increasingly dangerous and divided wizarding world."

"Fantastic Beasts 2" is set to be released in the U.S. on November 16, 2018.