What is the title of the screenplay written by J.K. Rowling that began the Fantastic Beasts film series?

J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the 2016 film that began the Fantastic Beasts film series. The story is set decades before the Harry Potter novels and follows magizoologist Newt Scamander in 1926 New York.

The film expands the wizarding world beyond Britain and introduces adult characters, American magical institutions, and the early history of Gellert Grindelwald. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander, while the story’s central disruption begins when magical creatures escape from his case.

The title comes from a Hogwarts textbook listed in the Harry Potter books. Rowling also wrote the screenplays for the two sequels, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The screenplay title should not be confused with the short Hogwarts textbook published as a charity companion book.