‘Harry Potter' prequel extras complain over 'paranoid' production team after phones get confiscated

Guests walk in and out of Hogsmeade Village during a media preview for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter-Diagon Alley at the Universal Orlando Resort in Orlando, Florida June 19, 2014. Reuters/David Manning

Extras hired to work on the “Harry Potter” prequel, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” have raised their concerns over the staff allegedly overreacting about the use of their mobile phones on the set.

Production staff for “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” are reportedly just worried over movie spoilers and photos being leaked online while the extras are on the set. According to The Sun, Warner Bros. executives have asked the staff to confiscate the extras' mobile phones to stop them from getting photos of the cast, including Colin Farrell and Eddie Redmayne.

However, the film extras considered this a problem. The long hours of production require the extras to keep their phones with them in case another work offer needs their immediate attention. Having their phones confiscated could cost them work since they wouldn’t be able to respond to the offer right away.

One of the extras told The Sun that they are “being treated like children,” adding that "the production team is paranoid.”

“Many of us are thinking of telling them where to shove their job,” the extra said.

This issue has reportedly already been raised by Agency Casting Collective to Warner Bros. However, either party has yet to release a statement.

Meanwhile, J.K. Rowling revealed on Twitter that she recently visited the set of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” in England. The author shared a photo of her production pass placed on a director’s chair written with her name.

It's been a fun day. pic.twitter.com/YDxsXJQ7pj
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 3, 2015

The production of “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” which is based on Rowling’s book of the same name, is currently in Liverpool, according to Metro UK. The “Harry Potter” prequel takes place 70 years before Harry Potter gets his hand on the Hogwarts School textbook. Redmayne plays the lead character Newt Scamander, a magizoologist who writes a journal of his encounter with all types of magical creatures, which led him to pen the textbook.

Other cast members include Katherine Waterso and Ezra Miller. The film is directed by David Yates, who also previously helmed the “Harry Potter” films. “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” opens in U.S. theatres on Nov. 18, 2016.