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Director David Yates has revealed more about a familiar character that will appear in the November 鈥淗arry Potter鈥� spin-off movie 鈥淔antastic Beasts and Where to Find Them鈥� and more about actor Johnny Depp鈥檚 role.

Mr. Yates, who also directed 鈥淧otter鈥� movies including both parts of 鈥淗arry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,鈥� recently told the 鈥淧otter鈥� website the Leaky Cauldron that Mr. Depp is playing villain Grindelwald in the 鈥淔antastic鈥� movie series.

It had previously been announced that Depp would be in the series but not in what role. 鈥淧otter鈥� fans know that Gellert Grindelwald was a major villain in Harry鈥檚 world before Harry鈥檚 nemesis, Lord Voldemort, came along. Harry鈥檚 mentor, Albus Dumbledore, was friends with Grindelwald but later dueled with him after Grindelwald showed himself to be evil. After Dumbledore and Grindelwald dueled, Grindelwald was put in prison.

Naturally enough, Yates also revealed that Dumbledore will be a part of the 鈥淔antastic鈥� series, appearing in the second film, though actor Michael Gambon, who portrayed Dumbledore in the 鈥淧otter鈥� series, will not play this younger version, according to Yates.

The first film in the 鈥淔antastic鈥� series is written by 鈥淧otter鈥� author J.K. Rowling and will debut in theaters later this month, on Nov. 18.

鈥淔antastic鈥� is sticking to at least part of the 鈥淧otter鈥� movie schedule with its November debut. Four of the eight 鈥淧otter鈥� movies were released during that month, with the series introducing itself to the world in November 2001 and the follow-up, 鈥淗arry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,鈥� also debuting in November before the series moved to a summer release date with 鈥淗arry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.鈥�

November has also been the home of such blockbusters as Disney鈥檚 film 鈥淔rozen,鈥� which is now the highest-grossing animated movie of all time internationally without adjusting for inflation, and the 鈥淗unger Games鈥� film series, which after its first installment debuted in March 2012 moved to November for its subsequent three installments.

New York Times writer Bernard Weinraub noted as far back as 1993 that the Thanksgiving holiday was a big part of November box office success.

鈥淭hanksgiving is the five biggest days of the year as far as box office is concerned,鈥� Robert G. Friedman, the president of worldwide theatrical advertising and publicity for Warner Brothers, told the Times. 鈥淧eople aren't out shopping for Christmas yet. It's not the most exciting time on television. There's not a lot of outdoor recreation in the Midwest and the East. Everybody goes to the movies at some point over Thanksgiving.鈥�

The movies near the top of the list of the highest-grossing November releases of all time without adjusting for inflation are all movies like the 鈥淗unger鈥� series, the 鈥淧otter鈥� series, and the similarly YA-skewing 鈥淭wilight鈥� series that could appeal to multiple age groups.

And possibly because of this, a Thanksgiving release date doesn鈥檛 always mean success if you鈥檙e not appealing to the right audiences, wrote Gary Susman of Moviefone in 2014. Mr. Susman noted that the movie 鈥淗orrible Bosses 2鈥� did not succeed during Thanksgiving.

鈥淚t's not clear that Thanksgiving is even a good time to release a raunchy, R-rated comedy,鈥� Susman wrote. 鈥淭hose movies tend to do well in the summertime (as the first "Horrible Bosses" did), but at family times like Thanksgiving, who's going to want to see that kind of fare?鈥�