What was J.K. Rowling’s first screenplay for the Wizarding World films?

J.K. Rowling’s first screenplay for the Wizarding World films was Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Released in 2016, the film was written by Rowling and directed by David Yates. It is set in 1926, decades before the Harry Potter stories, and follows magizoologist Newt Scamander after magical creatures escape in New York City.

The screenplay expanded a short Hogwarts textbook into an original film story. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them had first appeared as a fictional textbook title in the Harry Potter series and was later published in 2001 as a charity companion book credited to the fictional author Newt Scamander.

The title can be confused with the 2001 companion book or with the later film subtitle The Crimes of Grindelwald. The 2016 movie is the first Wizarding World feature screenplay written by Rowling herself.