Disney Celebrates Acquisition of New "Harry Potter" Series

Disney is betting big on the Harry Potter replacement franchise and is already speaking out about it.

Earlier this week, The Walt Disney Company (DIS) shared its fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter results, posting positive results across its various segments, including Disney Experiences and the film and television sector. In summary, the Mouse House focused on its box office hits over the last year, conspicuously omitting disappointments like Disney’s Snow White (2025), Captain America: Brave New World (2025), and Tron: Ares (2025).

Disney’s latest box office run is another reminder of just how powerful its biggest franchises remain. The company’s long-term strategy of investing in fan-favorite worlds and characters is clearly paying off: over the last two years, Disney has released four separate films that each crossed the $1 billion mark globally, a feat the company notes is unmatched by any other Hollywood studio during the same period.

The summary shared that the momentum continued with 20th Century Studios’ Predator: Badlands (2025), which opened in theaters with the largest opening in the franchise’s nearly 40-year history. With that debut, The Walt Disney Studios has officially surpassed $4 billion at the global box office for the fourth year in a row, reinforcing the studio’s dominant position in the blockbuster landscape.

And things are lining up for more Disney success.

“Heading into the holiday season, we are excited to bring audiences Walt Disney Animation Studios’ Zootopia 2 and 20th Century Studios’ Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Disney shared in its executive summary. “Looking ahead, our calendar 2026 slate includes numerous highly anticipated titles such as 20th Century Studios’ The Devil Wears Prada 2, Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian and Grogu, Pixar’s Toy Story 5, Disney’s live-action Moana, and Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday.”

But it’s not only the things in the immediate future that the House of Mouse was celebrating. Last month, the company acquired what is being dubbed the new Harry Potter: Katherine Rundell’s Impossible Creatures series.

“We also recently acquired the highly coveted rights to the acclaimed ‘Impossible Creatures’ book series, which we anticipate will become another exciting new storytelling franchise for Disney,” the summary reads.

Disney has officially taken a major swing at its next big fantasy franchise and brings one of publishing’s fastest-rising fantasy sagas directly into the Disney fold. The studio isn’t wasting any time framing it as a potential heir to the modern blockbuster throne once held by Harry Potter.

It was in early October that news broke of Disney’s significant investment in Rundell’s franchise, of which only two books in the five-book series have been released. “Impossible Creatures” debuted in 2023, and the follow-up, “Impossible Creatures: The Poisoned King,” was released earlier this year.

“In a deal worth a substantial seven figures, Walt Disney Studios won an auction to acquire rights to ‘Impossible Creatures,’ the fantasy series by acclaimed British author Katherine Rundell,” Deadline wrote last month. “She will adapt the first two books in the series into screenplays.”

Rundell’s world, set within the mysterious Glimouria Archipelago, is built on unmapped islands teeming with magical beasts that feel tailor-made for big-screen spectacle and, eventually, the expansive Disney ecosystem. “Impossible Creatures” follows Christopher, a boy drawn into this hidden realm, and Mal, a fugitive determined to save its mythic inhabitants as the very essence of magic begins to fade. It’s a sweeping coming-of-age journey rooted in friendship, adventure, and wonder—all elements Disney has long relied on to build lasting franchises.

The series has already seen impressive success in bookstores. The first installment debuted in 2023, the second arrived in 2025, and three more titles are on the way, forming a five-part saga that has sold over a million copies worldwide. Rundell herself has reached more than four million sales across her full body of work, cementing her as a major voice in contemporary fantasy. That kind of momentum naturally caught Disney’s attention.

What separates this deal from so many other literary adaptations is Disney’s early and direct creative partnership with the author. Rundell will write the screenplays for the first two films and produce alongside Charles Collier, ensuring the cinematic vision aligns closely with the books. Disney leadership has already expressed strong enthusiasm, with figures including Bob Iger and Alan Bergman highlighting the story’s emotional sweep and imaginative scope as a natural fit for the company.

For now, the acquisition stands as one of Disney’s boldest content moves in recent years, a signal that the company is investing heavily in new fantasy storytelling at a time when audiences are hungry for the next breakout saga. “Impossible Creatures” may just be the beginning of a long, powerful partnership between Katherine Rundell’s imagination and Disney’s global storytelling machine.

It also comes at an interesting time when investment in the Harry Potter saga at Warner Bros. continues. The company is currently working on adapting J.K. Rowling’s seven-book series for a small-screen outing on HBO. The project has been in a constant state of controversy due to Rowling’s involvement and the casting of the characters.

How do you feel about this next era of fantasy storytelling at Disney? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!