There’s a Harry Potter fan film coming, and it actually looks pretty great

We’ve all seen our fair share of dodgy fan tributes on YouTube I’m sure, in which a couple of people dress up in bathrobes and hit each other with rotoscoped sticks, only to label their twelve-minute epic ‘Star Wars Episode X: Rise of the Dark Force’ or some rubbish.

But, fans are getting a lot better versed in video production these days and, with the right tools at their disposal, every so often we see some magic happen on a shoestring budget.

The latest of these comes from independent film company Tryangle, which has released some pretty impressive trailers for its home-made Harry potter offshoot Voldemort: The Origins of the Heir. Set for release in a few months, it follows on the heels of the slightly-more-official spinoff, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

As the Sydney Morning Herald reports, the film looks at the origins of Potterverse big-bad Lord Voldemort when he was just a lad – a young Tom Marvolo Riddle, not yet He Who Must Not Be Named.

Crowdfunded by Potter fans, the film is entirely unofficial, so the only place you’ll see it is on YouTube, as opposed to the silver screen. While J.K. Rowling doesn’t strike me as the litigious type, the various other parties involved might take issue with this particular off-brand exercise, so we can only hope the release goes smoothly and we get to see just how well the final film has turned out.

Until then, check out the trailer below.

Get unlimited access to the coverage that shapes our culture.

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine

Subscribe to Rolling Stone magazine