Which 2016 film did J.K. Rowling write as a screenwriter, expanding the Harry Potter wizarding world?
Answer
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
J.K. Rowling wrote the screenplay for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, released in 2016.
The film was Rowling’s screenwriting debut and expanded the wizarding world beyond the Harry Potter story. It follows Newt Scamander, a British magizoologist whose magical creatures escape in 1920s New York. Eddie Redmayne plays Newt in the film.
The title comes from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a fictional Hogwarts textbook attributed to Newt Scamander. Rowling had previously published a short charity book using that title in 2001, but the 2016 movie is a separate narrative screenplay built around the invented author.
The film began a planned series of wizarding-world movies and was followed by Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018 and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore in 2022. Those sequels should not be confused with the first film’s title.