J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them under her own name.
The 2016 film was Rowling’s screenwriting debut. It is set in 1926, decades before the Harry Potter story, and follows magizoologist Newt Scamander after he arrives in New York with a suitcase containing magical creatures.
The film’s title comes from a Hogwarts textbook credited in the fictional world to Newt Scamander. Rowling had previously published a short charity book with that title in 2001, presented as a Hogwarts school text, but the film expanded the idea into a new narrative.
David Yates directed the movie, while Eddie Redmayne played Newt Scamander. The film began a planned series of five films, although only three were released by 2022.