JK Rowling plans five Fantastic Beasts films

Actors Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, Katherine Waterston and Eddie Redmayne star in the first film

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has said she has planned scripts for a total of five Fantastic Beasts films.

The first movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - which marks Rowling's debut as a screenwriter - is released on 17 November.

A sequel had already been confirmed by Warner Bros, but Rowling made her new announcement at a promotional event in London's Leicester Square.

She said that she was "pretty sure" the story would unfold over five films.

The Fantastic Beasts film is set in New York, and tells the story of a fictional author mentioned in the Harry Potter stories.

Eddie Redmayne plays the part of the animal-loving Newt Scamander, who visits New York's secret community of witches and wizards. The film is set 70 years before Harry Potter reads his book in the Hogwarts school.

JK Rowling will write the screenplays for the five films

Fans donned costumes for a Fantastic Beasts event in London on Thursday

Rowling, 51, said: "We always knew it was going to be more than one movie, and we said a trilogy as a place holder.

"But I've done the plotting properly and I'm pretty sure it's going to be five movies."

Redmayne, 34, said the author "has the most extraordinary imagination of our generation and she has created something entirely different.

"That world is spilling out of her head in a unique way."

David Yates - who directed the final four Harry Potter films - directed the first film and is due to return for the confirmed sequel.

The eight Harry Potter films have taken more than $7bn (£5.7bn) worldwide.

Eddie Redmayne (centre) plays 'magizoologist' Newt Scamander