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Well, it finally happened. Disney has officially decided it wants its own Harry Potter, and it's betting big - like seven-figure-big - on a fantasy series called Impossible Creatures. The studio just snagged the film rights to Katherine Rundell's wildly successful novels, and if early buzz is any indication, this could be the start of Disney's next magical empire.
Here's why everyone's freaking out. Rundell isn't just another rising author - she's the first U.K. children's writer since J.K. Rowling to top the charts in both the U.K. and the U.S. at the same time. That's not just impressive, it's franchise math. The first book, Impossible Creatures, came out in 2023, followed by The Poisoned King in 2025, and three more are on the way. Over a million copies sold, 34 territories, and glowing reviews about its world-building. So yeah, this isn't just a gamble. It's a golden ticket.
The story is set in the Glimouria Archipelago - a chain of secret, magic-filled islands where griffins, manticores, and other fantastical beings are dying out. Our heroes, Christopher and Mal, team up to find out why the magic is fading. Rundell herself will write the screenplays for the first two movies and produce alongside Disney, which means the adaptations won't get that "Hollywood rewrote my childhood" treatment.
Disney execs are already talking about it like it's their next big universe. Bob Iger called the world of Impossible Creatures "vibrant and full of possibilities," and that's Disney-speak for "prepare your wallets for merch, parks, and streaming spinoffs." Unlike Harry Potter, where Warner Bros. only had partial control, Disney gets the full sandbox here - complete creative rights, brand synergy, the whole thing.
If they pull it off, this could be massive. Imagine Disney Imagineers turning Glimouria into an immersive park area, or seeing mythical creatures mixed into live-action spectacles the way they did with Jungle Book and The Lion King.
It's too early to say if Impossible Creatures will hit Harry Potter-level cultural dominance, but the ingredients are there: beloved books, the original author writing the scripts, and Disney's industrial-strength marketing machine. Whether you're a fantasy nerd or just someone who misses that feeling of stepping into a whole new world, this might be the start of the next big saga.