What is the name of J.K. Rowling’s screenplay about the wizarding world before Harry Potter?
Answer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is the name of J.K. Rowling’s screenplay about the wizarding world before Harry Potter.
The 2016 film was Rowling’s screenwriting debut. It follows Newt Scamander, a magizoologist whose magical creatures escape in 1920s New York. Although the title comes from a Hogwarts textbook featured in the Harry Potter books, the film tells a new story rather than adapting the textbook’s fictional contents.
Rowling wrote the screenplay for the first film and developed the wider Fantastic Beasts film series. The story takes place decades before Harry begins at Hogwarts and introduces characters including Gellert Grindelwald and Albus Dumbledore in earlier periods of their lives.
The title can be confused with Rowling’s 2001 charity companion book, which uses the same title. The book is presented as Harry’s school text, while the film is a cinematic prequel-style story written for the screen.