What was J.K. Rowling’s first screenplay for a Harry Potter-related film?
Answer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
J.K. Rowling’s first screenplay for a Harry Potter-related film was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Released in 2016, the film was written by Rowling and directed by David Yates, who had directed several Harry Potter films. It is set decades before Harry Potter’s story and follows magizoologist Newt Scamander in 1920s New York.
The film expands the Wizarding World beyond Hogwarts and Britain, introducing American magical institutions, the Magical Congress of the United States of America, and the conflict surrounding Gellert Grindelwald. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt Scamander.
The title comes from a fictional Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt. Rowling had previously published a short companion book with that title in 2001, but the 2016 film uses an original prequel story rather than adapting that textbook’s brief entries.